


A Day on The Eagle's Nest

by attic_raccoon



Series: Kitajima Days [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23816461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/attic_raccoon/pseuds/attic_raccoon
Summary: Inarizaki goes to Miyagi to have some friendly matches against Shiratorizawa. It mainly involves Atsumu being a child, the responsible adults who watch over him, Shiratorizawa's Masterful Plan, and Kita and Ushijima's sweet sweet love story.Alternate title (or how Atsumu would say it): A Day on The Chicken's Coop.
Relationships: Kita Shinsuke/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Series: Kitajima Days [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661482
Comments: 33
Kudos: 97





	1. The Morning

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what I'm doing, but I hope it's enjoyable.  
> Thank you for your attention.

Inarizaki is a very strong team, consistently getting top spots on national tournaments with their engaging play style. The key to success is, of course, a lot of training; and especially practice matches. But a challenge to the Strongest Challengers is not that easily found around, which is why they were ecstatic when coach Kurosu all of a sudden announced that they were going to Miyagi have some friendly matches against Shiratorizawa, Tohoku’s great powerhouse, home to that Ushijima Wakatoshi, a Japan’s under 19 representative.

“Oh, man. This is going to be so awesome.” Atsumu speaks excitedly, but at a reasonable level, since they’re in a train. “I can’t wait to crush those bird heads. Let’s show them your true power, Aran-kun.” he says as he nudges his old pal. 

“What? Crush whom? Oh, of course. Yeah. My true power. Sure, Atsumu. Let’s show them.”

Aran had been acting a little weird that past week. It wasn't that noticeable at the beginning, but it had been getting worse these last days. The start coincided with the announcement of the practice matches, so his teammates were sure it was related to that.

“Aran-kun. Why are you so worried with the games? This will be fun.”

“No, Tsumu, I’m not worried about them. I’m fine.”

“You’re clearly not. But, well, if it’s not the game, what else could it be? Don’t tell me Aran-kun is having a love problem.” Atsumu mockingly says. He is sure the nervousness is related to the match. But, against his expectations, the silly joke does make Aran freeze and look at him with alarmed eyes.

_Oh, dear…_

“So”, Suna butts in, “What is your love problem?”

“Suna?! What? Love problem? Me? No, of course not. Where did you take that from? You were right, Tsumu. I must be worried with the games. I just, you know, didn’t want to look coward.”

“You’re not getting away, Aran-kun.”

“Judging by how his agitation grew as the game approached, it's clear his love interest is from Shiratorizawa.” Suna quickly deduces.

“I bet it’s an ex-lover.” Osamu joins the conversation.

“No…” says Atsumu, analyzing Aran’s every single movement, and reviewing all they had said until now. He smiles, in a very smug way. “It’s a crush.” 

Aran’s eyelids move a millimeter higher.

_Bingo._

Now they just need to do some guess work, starting with the most probable options.

“It’s Ushiwaka.”

“Gah! Stop! Stop! You’re wrong! You’re not getting anything more from me! Leave me alone!”

_Ah, Aran-kun… Such a innocent boy… So easy to read…_

After hearing that revelation, even Ginjima can’t stop himself from joining Aran's torment, “What? Ushiwaka? Damn, Ojiro-san! That’s bold!” 

“No, Gin! Not you!” Aran buries his face on his hands, lamenting. “This is a misunderstanding.”

A supportive hand is put on his shoulder. It’s from Osamu. 

“Don’t worry, Aran-kun. Everyone knows how impressive that well built body can be.”

Then Atsumu taps his back. 

“Ah, Mr. Aran, you wild stallion. Count me in. When he sees the power that I am going to extract from you, it will be over.”

“Good luck, though. That denseness will be hard to overcome.” Suna adds.

Poor Aran leans forward hiding his head, in a attempt to get away from those nosy foxes. As the loyal friend he is, he will hold this fort. 

“No, guys! Stop! You're wrong and I‘m not talking anymore!”

“Oh, Aran-kun—”

Atsumu does so to continue the teasing, but suddenly, he feels a menacing cold approaching them, and a disapproving Kita-san emerges behind him. They all go dead silent, frozen by the fear. 

_Fuck…_ They must have gotten too loud.

Kita's piercing eyes sweep through them, one by one.

His mouth begins to open.

They brace themselves for the incoming scolding.

Ugh, here it comes!

“We are arriving soon. Get ready.” Kita calmly says.

Oh... It’s just an announcement. 

The five nod to the captain, and watch him as he goes warn the next cluster of Inarizaki members. Then, they start tidying their things. It takes a while, since it's a little difficult to do that with trembling hands. 

— 

Today is a special day. It needs to be perfect. To properly fulfill their masterful plan is Shiratorizawa’s Reception Committee's duty; so it was initially formed only by the third years, who had experience with important missions, and Taichi, who was a reliable person. However, Shirabu insisted in coming along, and Tsutomu swore to keep his excitement levels under control. So there they were, waiting for their opponent’s arrival near the exit gates, while Ushijima had gone with coach Saito to the convenience store inside the station. 

“The train should have just arrived.” Shirabu says, looking at his watch.

“And I can see coach and Ushijima-san returning from their errand." adds Tsutomu. 

"Good." Tendou quietly speaks. "Right on time."

His usual playful tone may be missing right now, but not because he is feeling down, or something like that. No... Tendou is actually all fired up for today. This is just the laid back confidence of a well seasoned general. 

"Gentlemen. You know what to do.” 

“Yeah.” the others firmly respond in unison. 

—

Atsumu had gotten quieter after the previous incident with Kita-san. But the sudden spike in fear for his life had been gradually dispersing, and by now, he was at enough ease to go back to his bullshitting. He approaches Aran, speaking with a low voice, to avoid catching Kita-san's attention.

“Ready to meet him, Aran-kun? Don’t worry. I promise you that by the end of this trip you will have his number.”

“Shut up, Tsumu!” Aran whispers, pushing the setter away. “You’re getting this wrong! Just stop!”

Suddenly Kita, who had been walking ahead, turns and shoots them the look.

They stop.

The captain sighs, and decides to give his team some words. 

“Everyone, listen. I should not need to say this. But, Shiratorizawa is kindly offering their hospitality to us. We must not be rude to them, nor cause any trouble.” He looks at Atsumu. “Am I clear?”

“Su...sure, Kita-san.” the setter says, in a poor attempt at keeping his cool.

“Good.”

Now in silence, they walk some more, until they spot that characteristic Shiratorizawa Purple, waiting for them right after the exit gates.

On instinct, the foxes straighten up their backs and puff up their chests, trying to look bigger and raise their intimidation factor. They also harden their expressions, as Atsumu puts on his smirk. The battle had begun. 

Inarizaki crosses the gates, and finally gets face to face with Shiratorizawa. The coaches greet and start talking aside, as the players stare at each other, for some very tense seconds. Atsumu decides to be the first to speak, to stir them with one of his provoking lines. But to his, and the rest of Inarizaki’s surprise, all of Shiratorizawa, save Ushijima who was at center, suddenly bows at a right angle in perfect coordination.

“In name of Shiratorizawa Academy's High School Boys Volleyball team, we thank you very much for coming.” Reon shouts, as their chosen spokesperson.

Atsumu is ready to capitalize on that with a snarky comment, but he is cut short by Kita-san, who steps in front of them, and calmly bows. 

“And I, in name of Inarizaki High School Boys Volleyball team, thank you for having us.”

After the bowing exchange is finished, Kita briefly looks through the Shiratorizawa members, before setting his eyes on Ushijima. Then, to Inarizaki’s second surprise, he smiles. 

“How have you been, Ushijima-kun?”

“Fine, Kita-kun. And you?”

“I'm fine too.”

“I see. How was the trip?”

“Oh. Very long.”

What’s going on? Why was Kita-san being so friendly to Ushiwaka? Did they meet before? When? Atsumu’s head was full of questions. Unfortunately, before he could ask anything to his captain, the coaches call them to start making their way to the bus.

Instead of coming back to walk with his team, Kita goes alongside Ushijima, with the rest of Shiratorizawa marching right behind them. Atsumu tries to get a look on what his captain was doing there, but the tall and broad eagles formed a wall between the foxes and their leader.

Shit. What was that?

To avoid showing their lack of intel, the setter slows his walk and lets himself get surrounded by his team, to discuss what was going on in a discreet way.

“Since when do they know each other?” Atsumu asks. 

It was subtle, but not enough, and Suna catches Aran moving his eyes to the side.

“Aran knows something.”

What Aran knows is that he got caught, and that those nosy foxes weren't going to back off. He sighs in defeat. _At this point, it's better to just say something already._

“Alright, alright! You got me. Shinsuke told me the other day. It seems last month he found Ushiwaka lost in Hyogo, and helped him get back to his friends. You wanna know more, ask him. You’re getting nothing else from me, ok? Nothing!”

Strange. Why was Aran being so secretive about Kita-san’s story? And the way he reacted... It seems related to that pestering about his crush on Ushijima from earlier. What could it— Oh.

Oh my.

The sharp minded foxes quickly understood what was happening there. Atsumu should be one of them, but somehow the conclusion the puzzle pieces lead to was immediately kill-blocked by his brain. Kita-san having a crush on Ushiwaka? Their Kita-san? No. That’s not possible. But Ushiwaka may be having a crush on Kita-san. It makes sense. Everyone has some kind of crush on Kita-san. Yeah, that’s it. But the other way around? No. It’s absolutely not possible.

When Atsumu finally pops out of his thought process, they've already reached the bus. As hosts, Shiratorizawa lets Inarizaki board first, but Kita too stays behind, to make sure everyone is there and properly getting inside.

The foxes bunch together on the rear seats, and wait for their captain. Atsumu cheerfully raises an arm when he sees him embarking, calling him to the spot he reserved. The Shiratorizawa members, however, were faster, and better prepared at offering Kita a seat. A front row window seat right next to Ushijima, to be precise, from which he had a view of the path ahead.

To be fair, they weren’t so far away. Some eight rows apart? If Kita got up and turned around they could communicate. Nonetheless, it deeply annoyed Atsumu.

Damn bird-heads. They were trying to separate them. What the hell? Was that an evil plan to get Kita-san for themselves? How dare them? He stands up to go have a word with the bastards, but Aran, who was at the seat behind him, grabs his shoulder in time. 

“What are you doing?” Aran whispers. 

“Telling them to back off. Damn bird-heads. How am I the only one getting fed up here?” Atsumu whispers back.

“Don’t do this, Tsumu. Shinsuke is going to get angry.”

“Shit, Aran! You should be the one going there to rescue Kita-san. Or you, Oomimi-san! Are you really abandoning your tea buddy like this?”

Surprisingly, his words have an effect on Ren, who leaves his seat and starts walking forward. Atsumu gets all excited. He knew Oomimi-san would understand. He and Kita-san are like an old married couple, after all.

The tall man, however, stops by his side, puts a hand on his shoulder, and sits on the vacant spot, bringing the setter down with him. Ren shakes a no with his head.

“Atsumu. Leave Shinsuke alone. You can talk to him later.”

To see Ren stepping in to help dealing with their problem child makes Aran feel incredibly relieved. As expected of the man Shinsuke chooses to have as company during tea time. _Oh, wait_. Could it be? Was Aran not alone?

“Ren… Do you...”

The tall man looks at him and gives a quick, reassuring nod. This moves Aran so much his eyes get all sparkly, and he brings a hand close to his mouth. _Thank heavens…_ He was not alone. 

“I can’t believe this. You’re both on their side!? Fine, traitors! I’ll do it on my own!” 

But before Atsumu is able to try anything, Kita stands up and turns towards them.

“We’re about to depart. Is everyone ready?”

Once more, they are frozen on the spot. 

“Ye… Yeah!” Aran somehow shouts, raising an OK sign. 

And thus, the bus starts moving. Atsumu sulks the entire way, with his arms crossed, looking outside the window, being guarded by his senpais. Feeling betrayed.

But it doesn’t take long for them to arrive, and at the moment he set his eyes on the Shiratorizawa Academy grounds, they start shining with excitement.

“Whoa, Samu! Look at this! It’s huge!”

Inarizaki is not a small school. But this? This is not a school. It’s a fucking country club.

Anything they had on their minds before is suddenly replaced with total wonder for the place. They even forget they were supposed to question Kita-san, losing no time to get off the bus, and, as soon as they are out, the twins start wandering around. 

“Hm… I smell food. Are we having lunch now?” Osamu wonders as he sniffs the air, while Atsumu frantically looks to all directions. 

“Holy shit, are those… are those horses? They have horses here, Samu! This is so awesome!!”

Aran shakes his head as he watches them. _Oh, those twins._ It’s funny how fast they switch to being like two kids seeing an amusement park for the first time. He notices Shiratorizawa's Reon-san also looking at them and giving a small chuckle. It’s a little embarrassing for Aran.

“Oh, sorry for them. Sometimes they get like that.”

“Don’t worry. We know what is having an excitable child too.”

Reon is calmly smiling as he points to a bowl-cut boy, who was at a distance, intently staring at Aran. Goshiki, the young rising ace of Shiratorizawa, nothing could do to hide his interest on the country’s top five spiker. The moment he notices he was spotted, the boy pretends to look at something else, in a very, very unsubtle way. 

Aran and Reon exchange a look of mutual understanding before continuing to speak. 

“Wow, Shiratorizawa sure is big. Do you think we can do some exploration later on?”

“Of course. There’s a quick tour planned after lunch.”

“Oh, how nice. Hey twins! Did you hear? We’re having a tour later!”

“Hell yeah!” Atsumu shouts in excitement. 

His brother eyes him with disapproval. That fool had really reverted to being a little child.

“But not before lunch!” Aran adds.

“Hell yeah!” Osamu excitedly shouts.


	2. The Afternoon

Today’s plan was to first leave their stuff on the dorms, then have lunch at the cafeteria, do the tour, and finally go to the gymnasium play a couple of matches. On the next day, they would have another two matches, before finishing the trip with a hearty meal on a nice restaurant. 

The room they are given is huge. The food they eat is delicious and plentiful. There are top class facilities for everything. It’s amazing. Even when they finally enter the volleyball court, they still are on that awestruck state. What a beautiful and well maintained gym. And even when they start the warmups, they can’t help admiring how the balls are all in like-new condition.

But, as one would expect from a team of their caliber, all that distraction immediately vanishes when their captain calls them to huddle. It was time to work. The inspiration to give a little speech hits Atsumu. 

“Alright, I've gotta say, they really have an awesome place here. But these chickens were finished as soon as they allowed us to enter their home." he switches to a grimm expression, "Let’s eat them whole.”

“Wow, Tsumu. Lame.”

“Shut up, Samu. It was a good one and you know it. Because you see, a white bird could also be a chicken, and we are foxes, and—”

“Enough, twins.” Kita says without raising his voice. As always, he is strict, but very calm. “Their playstyle is simple. When we stop Ushijima, it’s over. Just do as planned.”

Yep. No sign of lovey-doveyness. Only pure focus. A cold hunter releasing the hounds to kill game.

Kita-san is not having a crush. Atsumu knew he was right.

— 

Overall, Inarizaki’s players are probably stronger on a individual basis. And their super diverse array of attacks is really troublesome, specially with a setter as daring and capable as theirs. But it was of no use if the balls didn’t go up; and as they expected, Ushijima’s killer spikes were giving them quite a hard time.

Not only that, even if their great ace got most of the attention, Shiratorizawa's players still were all of a high level. Their famous Guess Monster, in particular, is a tough pain in the ass; and their bowl-cut boy has some pretty good straights too.

After losing the first set, Inarizaki had subbed Kita in to raise their defenses, and were finally succeeding to shut down Ushijima. That took them a little too long, however, as they couldn’t stop Shiratorizawa from reaching match point.

True to his title, Ushijima comes from the left to score them the last point. The ball blasts through Inarizaki's blockers, going directly to Kita’s direction, without losing force. But the reliable captain had been successful in digging some of Ushijima's spikes so far, and he was ready to do it again. His positioning is good, his timing is good.

However, this time, good is simply not enough, and the ball goes flying out of bounds, bouncing for a couple of times, before it stops to lay still on the ground. 

While his teammates let out their frustration with the loss, Kita keeps staring at the ball. He shifts his gaze to his forearms, reddened from all that impact. He can feel his blood pumping. This was a good game. He gets up, looks at Ushijima and smiles.

 _What a spike._

During their post-game handshake, Ushijima notices the above average redness on his arms.

“Is this because of me?” he asks, pointing to them. 

Without showing any concern, the fox just says, “It is.” 

"Oh. Sorry."

Ushijima tenses up a little as he receives a sudden stare of mild reprehension.

“Don't apologize for properly doing your part."

"Ok."

"Also, don’t worry. This is nothing.” Kita smiles reassuringly, showing his forearms. Then he raises his eyebrows. “Yet. If I keep getting more of those, my arms might be in real danger, Ushijima-kun.”

People might have not noticed because they were too busy exchanging mean looks with their opponent, or they simply didn’t know Shinsuke well enough to know it’s significance, but Ren, who was beside him, did. And yes. Kita Shinsuke had made a joke.

It was that bad.

— 

There is a break between the games, so they can rest a little. Inarizaki is obviously frustrated for losing, but it just fires them up for the next match.

This first one had been enough to ignite some rivalries between them. Suna and Tendou were already profoundly despising each other, and Atsumu was really annoyed with Shiratorizawa’s meek little setter, who insisted in keep doing boring plays. It also seemed like the liberos had already become friends. But everyone had that desire for revenge, and it was, naturally, mostly because of Ushiwaka. Aran, Gin and Osamu didn't want to get behind; Ren and Suna were determined to shut him down; Akagi was going to neutralize his spikes for sure; and Atsumu was using all that to bring the chickens to the floor. Such was the power of The Great Ace. 

“Man. I think even you got a little fired up there, didn’t you, Shinsuke?” Aran asks his always so calm friend. But he gets no response, as Kita is nowhere to be found. Where did he go?

“I think he went to the bathroom.” Osamu says, before correcting himself, “Oh, no, wait, there he is.”

Aran looks to where Osamu is pointing and finds their captain on the other side of the court, talking with some Shiratorizawa members, including Ushijima. _They probably just called Shinsuke when he was passing by. He’s their savior after all_ , Aran calmly thinks to himself. Then he realizes that seeing a lone Kita-san being surrounded by eagles was bound to trigger Atsumu. He searches for him to stop any attempt of interference, but it was already too late.

—

“Kita-san! Here you are.” Atsumu says with all the friendliness he can display. “You need to come back. Aran is desperate looking for you.”

“Is that so?” Kita looks with suspicion at the nodding Atsumu. Then to where Inarizaki is stationed. Aran does seem to be looking for someone. But then he meets eyes with Kita, and starts signaling a no with his arms. Atsumu turns to look there too.

_Ah... caca._

“See?” the setter says without changing his smiling expression, “Look at how desperate he is.”

Kita gives him a cold glare of judgement, before turning to Shiratorizawa and excusing themselves to return to their team.

“Come on, Atsumu. Let's not make Aran wait any more.”

Ah… Kita-san is definitely angry. Atsumu is so getting scolded now. But even though he profusely sweats bullets on the inside, somehow he still bravely held his facade. With Kita-san leaving, albeit not in the way he intended, the plan was still kind of working, so he decides to keep pushing forward.

“You can go ahead, Kita-san. I want to talk to Shiratorizawa too. It’s not fair for only you to get chummy with them.”

It was obvious to Kita the setter had some ill intent. But it also was not his right to stop him from talking with the other team. Even so, it's worrying. Atsumu could get so nasty...

“It’s ok, Kita-san. We want to talk with Miya-kun too.” Tendou says with the utmost joy.

Well, if Shiratorizawa is asking for it, there’s nothing to be done. Kita decides to leave them for now. 

“Ok, then. If he is rude, do tell me.”

“Understood.” Ushijima nods.

“Kita-san, please, don’t worry. I can be very polite.” Atsumu says as he waves to his captain, until there’s enough distance between them. Only then he turns to the eagles, and speaks, with the same smile and friendly tone he had until now.

“Good evening, my friends. Pardon my intrusion, but, please, may I ask what do you fucking assholes want trying to steal Kita-san from us?”

Ushijima was about to say that they were not trying to steal Kita-kun, but Tendou stops him by putting a hand on his shoulder, before replying with an equally friendly tone.

“Steal? No, we could never do something so vile like that. We are not some scheming foxes, you see?”

“Ah, my bad. I forgot you are just a bunch of stupid white chickens. Is that why you want our captain? You need someone with a brain to be among you, isn’t it?”

“We are not chic—” A hand is put on Ushijima’s shoulder again.

“Could you please stop accusing us? We did nothing wrong. We are just thanking the kind person who helped our Wakatoshi-kun when he needed.”

“Oh really? Then I must kindly ask you to shut the fuck up. Anyone can see that you are just lowly lackeys trying to kidnap the person your boss fancies. And so much for what? A silly common Kita-san crush? Well, I am not having that. You are not worthy of Kita-san’s attention. So back off.”

“But Kita-san did seem to enjoy my presence.” Ushijima finally gets his chance to speak. 

“Oh, shut up. Kita-san doesn't just 'enjoys people's presence' like that. Stop making stuff up.” Atsumu is starting to lose his composure. What a presumptuous bastard this damn cow is. He is clearly delusional. 

“I'm not. On the last time we met, he laughed and said I was incredible. As far as I am concerned, that means enjoyment.”

Something snaps inside Atsumu. 

“You dirty liar, how dare you?! You’ve only met once! There’s no way he laughed!” He says, furiously pointing his finger to Ushijima’s face.

Kita-san’s laugh is one of the rarest things one can find in life. Atsumu spent years (two) trying to get them, but even then he succeed only 3 times, and they were a joint effort with Samu. The only person they know that could do it on their own and on a relatively regular basis was Aran-kun (And Kita-san’s grandma, but she was at a league of her own). That’s why, to hear a stranger claiming he had seem that laugh is such a incredibly horrible offense for Atsumu.

Anyone could see he was a bomb, ready to explode at the smallest touch. Anyone would know this was the time to carefully take a step back. Too bad he was in front of the unstoppable train known as Ushijima.

“It’s not a lie. It did happen. I remember well because it made me feel a nice warmth here.” Wakatoshi-kun says with all of his innocence, and softly rubs his chest. It's kind of adorab— 

**“I’LL KILL YOU, YOU LYING DASTARD SON OF A MILKLESS COW!! HYAAAARGH!!!”**

Atsumu had lost his mind. He was on his way to pounce on Ushijima. But right before he could do it, his arms were each grabbed by Aran and Ren, who had been on watch from a distance this whole time.

The enraged setter gets dragged away from the scene, still flailing and screaming about how the lying chickens were to blame.

After that, he would end up being known as ‘The Crazy Chicken Guy’ by the people of Shiratorizawa, to which he would respond with an ‘I'm not crazy, you damn evil chickens!’, further proving his title. 

Kita also had come, to apologize for that bad display of behavior. After hearing the unbiased and reliable retelling of events that Ushijima provides, he sighs.

“Making me laugh is a sensitive matter for Atsumu. Please, avoid touching it on next times.” He politely bows. “Also,” the old fox hardens his stare, "please just refrain from riling our players altogether. I will ask the same of them.”

What Shiratorizawa gets is a simple 'please, don't make me ask again' look. Although far from the piercing glare of death, it is enough for the eagles to get a taste of the sheer terror that is Kita-san’s disapproval. They tense up and give a shy nod in response. 

Kita returns to his team, and they hold Atsumu’s trial. The setter ends up receiving a double way scolding from Kita and Aran, and his brother’s mock. The captain, however, admits to hold some fault in all that, and promises to clarify any misunderstanding after the next match.

— 

Although the previous event had shaken Atsumu to his core, he doesn't let it distract him from his precious game time. In fact, all the irritation he feels turns into fuel for even more aggressive and sharp plays. The same goes for the rest of Inarizaki with their desire for victory.

It still wasn't easy, but now that they had gotten more used to Ushijima’s spikes, it’s their turn to win on two sets, ending another great game. 

After the two sides had tasted both defeat and victory, on the way back to the dorms they finally start to mingle. It is mostly thanks to their more friendly and easygoing members, because the problematic ones were still sneering at each other. But, well, as long as it didn’t break into a fight, that should count as some good interaction too. 

Since there was some free time between bath and dinner, Shiratorizawa offers to take Inarizaki to areas they wanted to see again. They happily agree to do that, but it would need to wait a bit, as there was a more pressing matter at hand.

It was time to listen to Kita-san’s explanation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Dastard son of a milkless sow' is one of my all-time favorite insults, and it comes from 'Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'. It's a very nice game. The presentation is particularly beautiful.


	3. The Evening

After all foxes were finished taking a bath, they go to their room, close the door, and gather in front of their leader, sitting on their knees, patiently waiting for him to start.

“As I promised, I will now clarify any misunderstanding you might be having regarding my relationship with Ushijima-kun. We have more to do after this, so let’s be brief. What do you already know?”

Gin raises his hand.

“That last month he got lost in Hyogo, you found him and helped him get back to his friends. That’s a reason why Shiratorizawa has been giving you so much attention today.”

“Correct. Now, what do you want to know?”

Atsumu’s arm immediately shoots up.

“Did he really make you laugh?”

“Yes, he did.”

There's no attempt at softening it; it's a blunt, full-force direct hit on Atsumu. So much so, his reaction takes a series of steps to complete: he opens his mouth as if he would scream, brings his hands to his temples, squeezes his head in pain, and bends his body forward, until his forehead touches the floor. Only then he starts screaming in silence for 10 seconds straight, before finally transitioning to a soft weeping.

Aran gently strokes his back, trying to comfort him. "There, there. It's alright. Shh…"

Even Osamu pats his brother’s back. As the other member of their comedian duo, he understands well his pain.

Everyone knows how hard that was to the poor kid... But Suna doesn’t miss a beat to raise his arm.

“What is your relationship with him?”

“What do you suppose it is?”

Osamu’s turn.

“The consensus is that you have a crush on him. Only Tsumu believes it’s the opposite way.”

That immediately makes the setter stop his lamentation. He needs to hear this answer.

“Both parties are wrong. To have a crush on someone is a waste of time.”

Aha! At least Atsumu’s reasoning was right! Kita-san would never have a crush on Ushiwaka!

“We are already dating.”

Wait, what?

“Any other misunderstanding you want me to clarify?”

“Why him?!” Atsumu slams his hands on the floor and yells. 

“That’s a personal question. I’m not here to answer them. Any more misunderstandings?”

The question is met with silence.

“Good. Then I must go. I have a date now— “

“No! Kita-san!” Atsumu latches himself on Kita’s leg, like a desperate baby koala. “Don’t leave us! Please! I promise I'll behave! Kiiiiiita-san!”

With a tired expression, Kita looks down, at the whimpering child on his leg. He rolls his eyes with a deep sigh. Atsumu’s lack of restraints could lead to some terribly unreasonable behavior at times. Despite that, the old fox can’t help having a fondness for his junior. It’s good to be honest.

Atsumu looks up when he feels his head being patted. Instead of the piercing stare he usually gets, he finds Kita-san looking at him in a kind of a… tender way? He's not really sure, as he is not used to that. It's like a glowing light of kindness shining upon his mortal existence. The only thing that comes to his mind is,  _ Ah… it's warm. _

“I’m not leaving you, Tsumu.”

Atsumu sniffles while looking up with teary eyes. “Really?”

“Yes. I’m not leaving anyone here.” Kita turns to Osamu and also pats his head. “Ok?”

Osamu was far from behaving like his brother was, but their captain knows he had been worrying as well. And Kita-san's aura of kindness is just too powerful. The young fox looks down, feeling his eyes starting to well up, and answers with a quiet “I know.”

Then everyone break into tears. Atsumu throws himself on Kita-san to cry on his shoulder. Osamu does the same on the other one. Then it’s Aran, with his face already all puckered up and snotty, coming from behind and embracing the three, saying “Oh, gosh, I love you all so much.” Soon the whole team is doing a collective hug around a tired-with-all-that-drama, but content, Kita-san. 

It goes on for a little while, when suddenly, something starts to beep. It's Kita's phone.

In a matter of seconds, Aran stops his crying, and together with Ren, they manage to disperse the crowd, and escort Kita to the room’s door. The elder fox turns towards them, his two most trusted allies.

“I’ll be back by eight. Aran, Ren, I’m counting on you.”

They nod.

“And the rest of you. Behave.” Kita says, as he stares at the frozen younglings inside the room. They nod. “Good. See you later then.”

“Have a good date.” Aran and Ren both say while bowing as he leaves.

Atsumu watches the scene, dumbfounded.

_ They really were traitors... _


	4. The Main Dish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kita and Ushijima's date.

Kita finds Ushijima waiting for him on the dorms building’s entrance, with Tendou and Semi. He stops in front of them, and they all bow to each other. Semi respectfully hands him a small brochure. 

“This is the support material we prepared for tonight’s date. It mainly contains the itinerary, but we also included a carefully curated list of recommended dishes to try. And, if you have any problem, please call this number written here. We will immediately send help.”

Kita admires their preparation —so far, Shiratorizawa had been proving themselves to be excellent hosts— and also the brochure they provided. Concise useful information, neatly placed on good quality paper. It’s always good to see that.

“This is very nice. Thank you.”

Semi feels very honored by the compliment. It means the group’s effort was a success. They shall celebrate it later.

“It was the least we could do. Once again, we are leaving our Wakatoshi on your capable hands, Kita-san. Please, take good care of him.” He politely leans forward again.

“I will.” Kita gives a solemn nod. “Now, shall we go, Ushijima-kun?”

“Sure.”

Ushijima takes a step forward, turns around and faces Tendou, who had been just quietly watching them until now, with a calm smile. He looks at Ushijima from top to bottom, meets his eyes, takes a deep breath, and silently nods. Ushijima returns it with a nod of his own. Then Tendou gives a single, slow nod to Kita, and Kita calmly nods back. Then Tendou nods to himself in satisfaction. Semi is not really understanding what was happening, so he just bows when everyone bows again.

The couple finally starts walking away. Tendou is all happy waving at them, saying “Have fun, you two!” Kita gives a little smile, and Ushijima just nods.

When the couple becomes just a spot in the distance, Semi, still feeling weirded out, jokingly asks “Is that some kind of language?”

Tendou looks at his confused friend, and nods.

—

"I like your friends, Ushijima-kun." Kita says as they walk away from them.

So far, he had been having a lot of fun with the folks from Shiratorizawa. It’s amusing how much they care about their dear ace. 

"I like them too." Ushijima seems pleased as he says that.

After this first exchange, they just keep walking, side by side through the quiet town, without speaking another word.

In a situation like this, silence would often be the result of nervousness or shyness. But not for these two. They like silence. 

It's nice to just enjoy this moment of peace, feeling the cool air on their faces as they stroll through the night. 

Because of his longer legs, sometimes Ushijima finds himself a few steps too ahead of Kita. But then he simply stops and waits until they are aligned again. Kita thinks it’s cute how he turns to him everytime he does that.

In one of those times, before Ushijima could notice he was too ahead, he felt a light tug on his jacket.

“Ushijima-kun, we need to turn left.”

“Oh. Thank you for noticing.”

After that, he makes sure to always walk behind Kita; feeling a little bummed since it meant his efforts in studying the route hadn't been enough. Which is a true pity, as it took them just 3 more minutes of walking to reach the small old restaurant he likes.

His friends had also suggested going to a fancier one, to impress Kita-san, but he felt this one was a better choice.

It’s a cozy little place. The soft yellow lights inside contrast with the cool night outside. There’s also a comforting smell of home style cooking on the air, as well as the familiar sound of enka playing on an old radio.

This has been a local favorite for decades, usually frequented by families and the elderly of the neighborhood. It was also on Shiratorizawa's list of traditional places to go on special occasions, for tasty and reasonably priced food for a small group. 

They are welcomed with a friendly “Irasshaimase!” when they enter. The owner, a old man working behind the counter, recognizes Ushijima and greets them. They go to where he is.

“If it isn’t Wakatoshi-kun?" he happily says, "I see you brought a new friend. How rare.”

“Kita-kun is not my friend. We are boyfriends.”

The old man looks at him with surprise. It takes him some time to process the information, but he suddenly starts giving those friendly slaps on Ushijima’s arm. 

“Ohoho! This is great! Congratulations, Wakatoshi-kun!” He turns to the back of the restaurant and shouts, “Honey! Come here! Wakatoshi-kun brought his boyfriend!”

“What?” An old woman pops out from behind the curtains on the back door. She looks at the two boys, makes an excited face, and quickly comes towards them. She also congratulates Ushijima while slapping him. 

They exchange brief introductions and the old couple is soon telling how it feels like it was only yesterday that Wakatoshi-kun was this size, and now he is… well, this size, playing for Japan, and with a boyfriend. The lamentation of “they grow so quick...” goes on for a while more, until they finally decide to stop, to give the young couple their alone time. Oh, but not before taking their orders, of course. 

Kita looks at the menu, and following Shiratorizawa's carefully curated list of recommendations, he chooses the thin-cut gyutan teishoku.

He considered also getting that agedashi tofu. It sounded delightful. But, no. Shinsuke knew his limits. The portion size seems too much, even for someone who had the intensive training that is living with a grandma. So it’s just the gyutan for him. 

The old man writes it down. Then, he points his finger to Ushijima, with a knowing look, and asks, “The usual?”

“Yes, please.”

While they wait for their dishes, Kita decides to start some conversation. Although he imagined most of the locals would know Ushijima, since he was kind of a celebrity, the way the owners treated him was surprising. 

“Are they your relatives?”

“No. But my father was an old customer of theirs. So he used to bring me since I was, uh," he reproduces the move used by the owners, "this small.”

“Was?”

“Yes. I have grown since then.” Ushijima simply states the fact.

“Ah, sorry, I meant your father. He stopped coming?”

“Yes. He in not among us anymore.”

“Oh.” It seems the notion Kita somehow had that Ushijima still had both parents was wrong. He drops to a more serious tone. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s ok.” Ushijima nods, “We still talk by phone.”

“Please elaborate, Ushijima-kun.”

Ushijima starts talking about his father, who is now living overseas. And then about his family, and basically about his life. Such amount of information should take some time to tell, but even at an easy pace, Shiratorizawa's unstoppable train is able to cover a lot of ground with his straightforward narration, and it only takes him some five minutes to finish his whole life story.

Kita listens to everything with great attention. He didn't know it was because of his father that Ushijima had started playing volleyball. How nice. 

“Your dad must be very proud of you.”

Ushijima looks at Kita with his flat expression for a couple of seconds. Then he looks down to the counter, reflecting on that. His father was always saying he was proud of him when they talked, so he knew it well. But now that he had just reviewed all the story of his life (in five minutes), he is reminded about the exact reasons why.

_ Hm... Guess I really did it. _

Ushijima calmly lifts the corners of his lips in a little smile of satisfaction, and turns his eyes back to his partner to say a simple, “Yes.”

Kita feels a relaxing warmth grow in his chest and spread to his body. This is the first time he had seen Ushijima’s smile like that. He must really love his dad. Kita softly returns the smile.

They stay in silence for a little while after that, taking the time to appreciate that pleasant fuzzy feeling, sipping their tea, and watching the old couple work. Then, Ushijima decides he should also ask about Kita-kun.

“What about you, Kita-kun?”

“Hm. Me?” Strange question. The fox ponders if he was in position to feel like that. Maybe they’re not that close enough yet. And they are opponents. But, well, “I think you could say so.”

Ushijima looks puzzled at him. Kita realizes the question wasn’t if he was proud of his partner or not.

“Ah, you are referring to my life story?”

Ushijima nods, and it’s his turn to listen with close attention to Kita’s talk about his ordinary life, and his dear, dear grandma. She was very happy that Shin-chan had found a companion and was eager to meet him. They are just finishing the deal to visit her next time Ushijima goes to Hyogo, when the owner arrives with their food.

“There you go, boys. Have a nice meal.” The old man cheerfully says.

Kita looks at the generous dishes in front of them. The smell is wonderful. But he notices there's an extra plate among his order.

"Sir, I didn't ask for the agedashi tofu."

"No? Hm… I guess my age is starting to catch up on me. Well, you can have it then. On the house."

Kita Shinsuke is not a person who usually accepts the fruit of labor without properly paying for it like that, but he had quickly caught on with what the owner was doing. Very well, then. He shall accept it, as it's rude to refuse a present. Just let him say it once to be sure, as the tradition dictates. 

"No, sir. You had the trouble to prepare this. Please allow me to pay for it."

"Nah. Just take it. Youngsters need to eat well." The owner playfully dismisses it with a wave of his hands.

Kita smiles. It shouldn't have been easy to see through him — he only gave maybe 10 seconds of minimal eye and eyebrow movements to work with as he looked the menu; the old man is sharp. Must be the decades of experience dealing with customers.

They thank him, he gives some more taps on Ushijima’s shoulder, and returns to his work.

Now it's just them and their food. Everything is very appetizing. But the size of the tofu portion does worry him, as it's just enough to almost hit his limit, when added to the already generous teishoku. Well, he will manage it.

They prepare to dig in, cleaning their hands and pickings their utensils up. 

"You've got lucky, Kita-kun. This tofu is very tasty."

"Yeah, I wanted to try it." he says and gives it a bite. It’s delicious. A thin fried crust soaked in sauce flavors the silky soft tofu. And this one also has shiso and a lot of green onion. Very tasty indeed.

"Then why didn't you order it?" Ushijima seems puzzled.

"I thought it could be more than what my stomach comfortably handles."

A good meal should be finished with the pleasant feeling of satisfaction, and not the heavy regret of having eaten too much, is what Kita Shinsuke thinks. However, what he said doesn’t seem to have answered his partner’s question, as Ushijima still has his head tilted and eyebrows furrowed.

“But I can help you finish it.” he says, like he is reminding Kita of something very obvious.

Since Tendou had a quite small appetite, and his friends were always putting some of their food on his plate —because 'Wakatoshi needs to eat well'— helping others eat their meals was commonplace for Ushijima.

Kita looks at him with mild surprise. Being someone who felt great responsibility over his food, he always made sure to get only what he could manage. He had forgotten the possibility of just giving the surplus to a hungry friend.

A scene of the twins fighting for a boiled egg that wasn’t going to fit in Aran’s stomach comes to his mind.

Kita smiles to himself once again. How foolish of him to forget that. This must even have been the intention all along. Sharp old man...

“I’ll be counting on you then, Ushijima-kun.” he says, indicating the small plate full of tofu.

“Of course.”

The fox gladly watches Ushijima eating a piece. Then, because warm food can’t wait, they quickly return to their respective dishes, and it’s the gyutan’s turn for Kita.

The texture is uniquely chewy, but not hard, and the seasoning is spot on, being flavorful without overpowering the beefiness of the meat. Also, grilled miso is just nice. The side dishes of oxtail soup and barley rice are delightful as well, and the way they complete the concept of 'cooking from snout to tail' of the dish is a neat bonus. Kita summarizes his satisfaction in a simple, “Hm, this is good.”

“Yes. Gyutan is very good.”

With the spirit of food-sharing rekindled in his being, Kita offers his partner the main dish as well. "Want some?" 

"Yes, please."

Ushijima takes a couple of gyutan slices for himself, and returns the act by also offering some of his dark brown stew to Kita.

"Ah, Ushijima-kun's 'the usual'. What is it? Hayashi rice?" He says as he brings a spoonful of the stew to his mouth. 

"Yes. It is my favorite dish. And this one is among the best."

It's rich and intense, but surprisingly light on the stomach, with a smooth mouthfeel. "Hm… It's is a very nice one indeed. Good choice in favorite dish, Ushijima-kun."

"Thank you." He eats a spoon of his beloved hayashi. "What is yours, Kita-kun?"

"Mine is tofu hamburger. Grandma's, in particular."

"I've never had it. Is it similar to this agedashi tofu?" He says as he eats another piece.

Kita explains that it is just like a lighter hamburger, since there's still meat in it, and promises to ask his grandma to make him some when he goes visit them.

"Thank you, Kita-kun. I'm looking forward to it."

"And so she is. Be prepared to eat, Ushijima-kun. Grandma will have no mercy on you." Kita says pretending to give some seriousness to the situation with a sharp stare of his. 

"It's ok. I have confidence in my skills." Ushijima simply states in real seriousness, before eating another tofu. 

Although he can be satisfied with a bowl of rice, if he is allowed to go at his calm pace, Shiratorizawa's Great Ace will keep munching as long as his plate gets filled.

Kita could stay hours watching that. Ushijima is so graceful when he eats. And also, he chews so well. That by itself was enough to get his affinity, since Kita Shinsuke was someone who really appreciated when people had proper mastication.

The only table manner he appreciated more than that was to never leave leftovers behind. And it seemed like Ushijima-kun, on top of having excellent chewing, was also the kind of person to always leave a plate squeaky clean. 

Yes. This Kita-san is very very pleased. 

“Oh my, what a reliable boyfriend I have.” he playfully says, "Lucky me." 

It makes Ushijima feel the nice warmth somewhere around his chest again. And this time around, there was even a little of blushing action too. He didn't really understood what was all that, but he liked being with Kita-kun.

"Thank you. I guess I feel lucky as well." He says, giving a small relaxed smile. Kita does the same, and they both stare at each other like that for a while.

Then, they turn to their dishes, and just quietly enjoy the rest of their meals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to imagine the scene with the song "Shimanchu nu Takara", by the band Begin. It's iconic of Okinawa, and technically a pop, but if it's on my parents playlist, it's enka for me.


	5. The Great Drama of Atsumu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Atsumu's dramatic drama.

After Kita-san had left, the foxes of Inarizaki stayed in the room for some time. They basically used it to try to soothe Atsumu, and prevent him from bolting after his senpai.

Aran told them in greater detail the story of how Kita and Ushijima met, and tried to explain how important this was to Shinsuke and that Atsumu couldn’t just go there and mess things up.

But it was not enough to dismiss the setter's denial. Knowing that Kita had decided on the fly to ask Ushijima out only made it worse. Many questions ran through his mind. _How could Kita-san fall for a stranger like that? How did that go unnoticed for so long? What did Ushiwaka have that…_ —Tsumu feels his face getting hot, and his eyes welling up— _that... they didn't? How… How…_ —he starts to sob— “How can you be so ok with this, Oomimi-san?? Weren’t you two, like, a thing?” 

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, there was more to Atsumu's drama than just a childish fear of Kita-san leaving them. Turns out the setter had also been worrying about his tall senpai’s feelings.

To know that the brash Atsumu would have such concerns touches Aran's heart so much tears come to his eyes. “Tsumu… I didn’t know you were thinking this much about others.”

"I… I just don't want Oomimi-san to be sad!" he wails.

Seeing that moves Ren too. What a considerate junior they had. He pats the weeping child's head.

“Thank you for your concern, Tsumu. But haven’t I already told you it’s not like that?”

He did. Many times. Atsumu was the only one who insisted on suggesting there was something between Kita and Ren. Everyone else considered it to be just a recurring joke from him. But it seemed like he really did believe in that.

"Yeah, but, you got along so well!” Atsumu cries out.

They did. Their quiet and mature characters matched quite well. As the setter says, like an old married couple. 

“It’s ok, Tsumu. That didn’t change.” Ren tries to reassure him.

“But Oomimi-saaan…” Atsumu latches himself on his senpai to cry on his lap. “I can’t understand! How could Kita-san choose that… that random guy over you?” 

Oomimi Ren really didn't have a 'thing' for Kita Shinsuke. He was sure. They were good friends, and he was happy for the old fox.

Oomimi Ren, however, was just a young mortal man. That question, plus the crying junior on his lap, unfortunately hits him a little too hard, and Ren can't stop himself from showing some pain on his face, as he lets out a quiet "Ugh…" 

It is a shock for Inarizaki. As they realize that there may have been some truth to Atsumu's thinking, the foxes look down, feeling guilty for failing their tall comrade. 

"Oh, no. Ren… I didn't know…" Aran says, approaching a hesitant hand to his friend.

Still inflicted by the pain, Ren raises an arm to stop him. "No, Aran. It's ok…" He takes a couple of deep breaths. "I'm fine."

After recollecting himself, he tries to calm his teammates' worries, “It's ok, guys. I'm fine. Really. I know it may look bad, but this is still within the range of a common Kita-san crush."

Ah, yes, the ‘common Kita-san crush’. It is a well known fact that everyone has some kind of crush for Kita-san; be it romantic or platonic, incredibly intense or almost imperceptible. Although everyone has it, the great majority of people does not ever consider the romantic pursuit of Kita-san as a real possibility. Because of this, everything below that point is designated as a ‘common Kita-san crush’. Going past that, it then becomes a 'thing'. 

And now that the foxes stopped to think about it, they too can feel a prick of pain inside them. Ah… yes. This must simply be the standard reaction for what was happening.

 _Ugh…_

The slightly pained expression appearing on their faces confirms to Ren they now understood his case wasn't that bad, so he continues. 

"I guess it's true mine might have been a bit above the average, but it never went to become a 'thing'. So, don’t worry, my heart is intact. It just got a little shaken with the surprise. Ok?”

Everyone nods in understanding. If Oomimi-san says so, they can only accept it. 

“But you know, Tsumu,” he continues, “I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it as well. I actually spent quite some time doing it, and found many possibilities. But in the end, the only conclusion I could reach was that I'm fine with Shinsuke's choice, regardless of what might have been the reasoning behind it. Because one thing is for certain, Tsumu, and I need you to understand this." Ren holds the setter's shoulders. "I know it must be hard to imagine, but, what we've been seeing throughout this day, is the Shinsuke equivalent to being completely head over hills for someone.”

“What? No! What makes you think that?" Atsumu shouts.

Kita-san was normal. He had just being a little more polite than the usual, because they were around their hosts; not happily skipping while shooting rainbows from his eyes.

“No, Tsumu. For the circumstances, the way he was relaxed was abnormal. You could see by how often he was smiling. If you missed that, it might be easier to picture it like Kita-san had the first button of his shirt… unbuttoned the whole day.”

“No…!” Atsumu says incredulous. He didn't see any of that.

“It’s true Tsumu. It’s all true.” Aran says. 

“But there's more." Ren continues, "I saw it. While he greeted Ushijima after the first game ended," he does a dramatic pause, "Shinsuke made... a joke.”

“No…!” This time it's Aran who gets incredulous, for he also knew the significance of such act. "Is it that bad?" 

“Yes, Aran. I too was shocked.”

“Wait, hold on a sec." Atsumu squints at them. "Are you saying that Kita-san can…" his brain fights hard to finish the thought, "make jokes?” 

“He can. They might be a little hard to catch, since they are subtle. And rare. But it happens. Usually, only when he is feeling very pleased, and around people he’s absolutely comfortable with.” Ren explains. 

The setter truly wasn't aware of that. He had never seen it. This leads him to a terrible realization.

“Wait. If I never saw it happening… does it means that in all these years (two) I have never made Kita-san feel comfortable and pleased enough???”

It’s like a bucket of icy water on his face in a cold winter night. It’s so terrible it grows into a even worse thought.

“Kita-san doesn’t like me????”

“Oh, no, he does! He does, Tsumu. It’s just that, hm…” Ren didn’t expect that turn. Panicked, he can't remember if Shinsuke really never had joked around Atsumu before. Oh, but even if he did, it still were just some very few times. How could he put it without hurting their junior too much? “Well…” He looks at Aran to ask for help, but he is also making faces trying to figure out what to do. “Uh… you see, Tsumu—”

“How can Kita-san relax when he always has to keep an eye on your dumb ass, you dumbass?” Osamu finally snaps. 

Ah… yes. There it is. The beauty of fraternal love. One can always count on their beloved siblings to mercilessly dropkick them straight into the freezing lake of the painful truth. When that happens, there's only one thing one can say in their defense. 

“Shut up, Samu! Yours is the ass Kita-san has to keep an eye on!”

Aran considers trying to stop them while it’s just words, but at these times, it’s better to simply let nature settle things.

“Well, thank you. My ass **is** much better than yours.” Osamu says, with that air of superiority that triggers his brother's competitiveness. 

“What? No! Yours is fat and flaccid. If Kita-san is going to choose an ass to look at, it will be mine!” 

And with that, as quickly as it started, the fight is over.

“Oh?” Osamu slowly raises his head, to look down at him. “So you do admit that your ass is the one Kita-san has to keep an eye on?”

“Agh!” 

Atsumu lost. He foolishly jumped into Osamu’s trap. His blood boils in rage, but Aran holds him down before he can attack his brother; who is still in the exact same position, staring down at his pitiful state.

"Let me go! I need to teach this bastard a lesson!" 

"No, Tsumu. You're the one who needs to learn to just accept Kita-san's choice. Your stupid drama is only making things harder for everyone, including Oomimi-san!" Osamu says, as he points to the tall senpai and glares at his brother.

"Oh, no, Samu, it's ok." Ren says a little flustered. He didn't expect that his juniors would worry so much about him— 

"AH, FUCK!” Atsumu angrily yells, “I KNOW, DAMN IT!" he bites his lips trying to control his emotions. “...I know.”

It took them a while, but it was finally done. After being brutally beaten down by his brother, and hearing from Oomimi-san himself that he was fine and that Kita-san was enjoying to be with Ushiwaka, Atsumu finally accepted the current situation.

Once more, he softly weeps on the floor. 

Aran releases the grip he had on the poor thing, to gently comfort him instead.

“It’s ok. Cry for as long as you need. There, there...”

They stay like that for some minutes, giving Atsumu plenty of time to let his thoughts sink in.

When it seemed like he had completely calmed down, Ren kindly pats his head, and asks if he was feeling better.

Atsumu sniffles and nods.

"Good. Now you understand why you need to leave Shinsuke alone, right, Tsumu?” 

"Yeah…" he quietly answers, "I do.”

His senpais fondly smile at him, feeling proud to see their dear kouhai taking a step towards maturity. 

Atsumu weakly smiles back. While he was down, he gave a pretty deep thought to the matter. He knew Kita-san was free to do whatever he wanted to do. If he chose to be with Ushiwaka, so be it. No one had any right to intervene. Whatever happens there is all up to Kita-san, and the cow, and only them. No one else.

And that's precisely why Atsumu needs to go.

He's sure Aran and Ren have good intentions, but these kind old men are blind to the feathered menace. Someone has to take action.

The moment those two relaxed, thinking Atsumu had given up, was the perfect opportunity for him to deftly jump up and bolt through all his teammates before anyone could react. He safely makes to the corridor, and goes towards the stairs. With his speed, Atsumu is confident he can outrun his pursuers and reach Kita-san. But… even though he is almost on the stairs, no one is coming after him. Worse than that, there’s not even any sound of a ruckus coming from the room. Something is very wrong. That’s when his phone starts ringing. Although it could be a trap to catch him while he was distracted, he answers, keeping an eye on the door.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing, Tsumu?” Ren asks.

“Don't worry, Oomimi-san, I'm going to protect Kita-san’s date. I know the chickens are plotting something. Someone has to keep them in check.”

“Fair enough, Tsumu. Go ahead. But...” Ren’s figure slowly appears from the door. He ominously looks at the setter, while holding the phone to his ear. “Where is Kita-san?”

Atsumu’s eyes widen with the realization that he doesn’t know where Kita had gone to. Fuck, what was he gonna do? No, wait, that’s why he was running. He knew they needed to pass through the school’s entrance, so he just had to get to them before that.

There had been already 25 minutes since Kita left. But he had his hair all over the place and was covered in tears and snot after that group hug, so cut 10 from those minutes for a pit stop at the restroom.

Also, Kita-san always arrives earlier to meetings, so he had rushed not to leave fast, but to get there 10 minutes before departure. Therefore, they must have effectively left the building only 5 minutes ago. Judging by the average Kita-san walking speed, that meant it was enough to reach them if Atsumu ran at full throttle. He grins victoriously, preparing to take off.

“I’ll find out.”

But strangely enough, Ren’s reaction to that is a smile. A calm one, as the tall man holds the phone on the air. A hand appears to pick it, and Aran smoothly comes from the door, also smiling.

“No, Tsumu, you won’t. Because it’s already 6:10 pm, which means they’ve left the gates by now, and you can’t follow them anymore.”

“Uh uh,” Atsumu shakes his head. “I did the math. There’s still time.”

Aran raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Are you sure?”

Ok, Atsumu was notoriously not a math genius, but even he could do a simple sum. His numbers should be right. Unless… he missed something. The setter quickly recapitulates all the previous events again, and a sudden realization strikes him.

Kita-san didn't need to do a pit stop on the restroom. Kita-san had already been prim and proper when he left the room!

Replaying the scene in a slower speed, it was possible to see the intricate choreography that had happened there. While they walked to the door, Kita took a pack of wet tissues from his pocket and wiped his face clean. Then, when they stopped, Aran and Ren assisted him to change his jacket, with one helping to take it off, and the other to put on a new one. Then, Aran handed him a comb, as Ren held a small mirror for his use. With 5 precise sweeps, like he does every morning, Kita fixed his hair to perfection. The two gave him thumbs up to sign their quality control approval, and that was it. Those moves were so natural and fast —and mostly behind two of their biggest players— that they had gone unnoticed by the dumbfounded Atsumu. 

“It can’t be...” the setter says, incredulous, “This... This is a bluff!”

Aran slowly shakes his head. “Give up, Tsumu. It’s already too late.”

No. Atsumu won’t give up. He can make it in time. He just knows it. He turns to the stairs to continue the run. But right at that moment, on the stairs landing, someone appears before him. 

“Good evening. Are you foxes ready?” a friendly Reon asks.

 _No… It’s Benkei..._ the setter thinks, as he takes a step back.

Then, to his dismay, more Shiratorizawans emerge from downstairs, effectively blocking his way out. On high alert, the fox carefully backs away from the flock of evil chickens, but he startles as he suddenly stumbles on something. He flips to look back, and finds an Aran-kun, together with the rest of his team.

“Oh, Ojiro-kun. Have you guys decided what you wanna do?” Benkei asks.

The setter turns to find that the chickens had closed the distance, and were now right behind him. 

“Yes, we have, Oohira-kun.” Aran cheerfully responds.

Surrounded, Atsumu looks at them, foxes and chickens, smiling at each other.

He is frozen in fear, as he makes a horrific realization.

_Oh my Kita-san…_

_They were working together._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a movie called "Chicken Run" that I like very much.  
> I guess Atsumu's behavior here is slightly based on the guy that gets paranoid with the chickens and keeps saying they are organised.


	6. The Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crouching Tiger, Hidden Fox.

Being watched from both sides, Atsumu recognized his defeat. Even if he managed to escape, he had no idea of Kita-san’s whereabouts. All he could do now, was to quietly play some ping pong… 

...

Ok, he was actually having a lot of fun. There’s a super complete game room in this dorm. It’s awesome.

After playing some doubles with Osamu, the twins decide to go have a breath of fresh air at the veranda. They wouldn't say it out loud, but they both needed a break after losing so much. It unfortunately seemed like their twin bond wasn't enough to surpass the everyday access to a ping pong table. 

While his brother sulks staring down, Osamu appreciates the night view of the vast Shiratorizawan lands. He thinks about the day he had. In terms of practice matches trips, this was a quite good one, surely among the best. The only annoying thing that happened —other than losing the first match, and the ping pong, which are part of life— was damn Tsumu and his pain in the ass drama.

In truth, Osamu understood well how his brother had been feeling, but, come on, it was Kita-san who they were talking about. The old fox knows what he does. Nothing goes past his all-seeing eyes, so Ushiwaka and the eagles must be a decent people enough. And they probably took him to a super nice restaurant. He must be eating delicious food right now… And, speaking of food, he sure hope it doesn't take too long for dinner to come. Osamu’s mind drifts away, as he starts drooling and his stomach growls.

… 

Well, anyway, he's glad Tsumu had finally calmed down. _Maybe he even matured a bit today_ , Osamu thinks as he looks at his brother.

He then notices Atsumu was staring at something. It seemed like... two people, sneaking through the night. They kinda look like, uh, Shiratorizawa’s setter and their bowl-cut boy...

 _Ah, crap_. 

"Tsumu, don’t do it. If I yell, you won't even get past the doo—" 

"Oh, Samu. I wonder, what delicacies Kita-san must be getting to taste. They must have taken him to a crazy good place. It’s a shame that we won’t be going there, isn’t it?"

Unbelievable... Osamu scowls at the cursed asshole smirking before him. What a dirty move. He looks up, and takes a deep sigh. "Fine. Shiratorizawa left you to us, everyone thinks you gave up, specially Aran and Ren, so they almost completely relaxed. I'm on guard duty as mere formality. Suna and Gin will be on our side. Let’s go, brother."

—

It was quite easy to tail the two escaping chickens. Seems like they were too busy bickering with each other to notice their followers. Atsumu thinks it’s a strange choice of people to send on a probably stealth mission, but well, what does he know of chicken strategy?

Eventually those two start acting with more caution as they get close to what seems to be an old restaurant.

“That’s gotta be it” Atsumu whispers, feeling victorious.

Osamu takes a deep whiff, looking delighted, “I sure hope it is.”

The Shiratorizawa agents, however, go in the small alley besides the building, instead of entering. The Miyas take a peek, and see their targets perched to windows, trying to get a look on the interior. 

Like well versed predators, the foxes approach in complete silence until they are inches from the unsuspicious birds. From there, just for confirmation, Atsumu gets a glimpse of Kita-san dining with Ushiwaka in a far corner of the restaurant. He feels his heart softening at the sight. _Wow… they are so calm…_

No, focus! He’s on a mission. These chickens are up to no good, and he won’t let them mess with Kita-san. He signals Osamu, and they both pounce on their prey. This was supposed to be a silent attack, but one of the chickens was just too fast at screaming.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Goshiki shrieks at full force.

Panicked, the twins, and Shiratorizawa’s setter, quickly cover the boy’s mouth and get down to the ground, sticking their backs to the wall, nervously pleading him to stay quiet. Poor Goshiki realizes his grave mistake and desperately covers his mouth himself. Their hearts race as they await their destiny. All of a sudden, they feel the air around them dropping in temperature. Fuck. Kita-san must be staring at this direction. The four instinctively hold their breaths, in pure fear…

But nothing else happens.

After a while, Shirabu, and Atsumu, cautiously get up to see if it was really alright. They spot Kita and Ushijima still peacefully eating on their corner. They sigh in relief, and return to the ground.

Only then they notice Atsumu had been tightly hugging Shirabu this whole time. The eagle glares with disgust at the fox and gestures his head as to say ‘aren’t you getting off?’.

“Ha, you’re not escaping me, little chicken.” Atsumu tries to keep his cool. 

Shirabu furiously eyes him. “Unhand me now, you worthless piece of garbage.”

The meek little setter’s nastiness takes Atsumu by surprise. But this is not enough to intimidate him.

“And let you interfere with Kita-san’s date? No.”

“We just came to watch. You are the stupid asses who almost blew everything up!”

Ugh, he’s not exactly wrong… but, “Well, it’s your friend who couldn’t deal with a simple scare.” Atsumu says as he points to Goshiki, who... instead of being held down like he should, was being comforted by the other Miya.

“What are you doing to the enemy, Samu?!”

“Helping him to calm down. The poor thing was terrified.” He turns to Goshiki, and gently taps his side, “There, there. Kita-san is scary, I know. We’ve all been through that.”

"...It was so cold…" Goshiki whimpers while shivering. Kita-san's attacks were particularly effective on him. 

Shirabu scowls at the sight. “I knew I should’ve left you there. You’re not ready for the field.”

“But… but neither you are, Shirabu-san! Or the senpais wouldn’t tell you to stay at home too!” the young ace points out in his defense. 

Shirabu clickes his tongue in annoyance. It was true. Shiratorizawa’s plan was for the both of them to stay at the dorms; because Shirabu can get too aggressive and Goshiki is too excitable, they say. But the setter wasn’t letting Ushijima-san dine with a fox out of his sight, even if he already deeply respected Kita-san.

Then Goshiki insisted in coming along when he saw Shirabu trying to leave in secret, to have a chance to prove his value. And it also was an opportunity to observe his rival’s dating technique, since, as the next ace, he must know what he needs to surpass.

Besides all that, they were just very curious to better know the kind of person Ushijima-san had fallen for.

Atsumu gets confused. "What? Shiratorizawa didn't send you?" 

"No." Shirabu mutters.

"They sent someone else, but we didn’t see him here. He's probably staying at another shop nearby.” Goshiki explains, “It was just to have someone at ready if the couple asked for any help." 

But it's not enough to convince the fox. "Just that? Where's the elaborate plan to impress Kita-san into falling for your boss? I know you have one!"

He's barely finished speaking when Shirabu grabs him by the collar, aggressively yanking him closer. Atsumu is pierced by the most hateful eyes he had ever seen since the day he stole Osamu's Super Special Edition Smooth Pudding® from the fridge. 

"Listen, you fool of a pee-headed imbecile. Ushijima-san would never need that. How dare you?" 

The fox recoils at the vile flesh melting poison that coats those words. My... my goodness... What part of what he said was so bad to deserve this? Also, that insult was just rude. The pee part was totally unnecessary… he thinks. 

While Osamu fights to not laugh out loud at the face his brother is doing, Goshiki carefully peels his colleague away from the other man. Then, he tries to assure their good intentions to the foxes, "Please, understand. We would never interfere in this kind of situation. To be so invasive goes against the code of honor." 

Goshiki's earnest efforts in justifying themselves kind of restore some of Atsumu's confidence. At least one of them was intimidated by him. The fox is thankful to the good bowl-cut boy. He must be telling the truth. Or better yet, it feels like he actually doesn't have the ability to hide a lie.

Hm... If just having someone nearby was really the chickens' plan, then it was a quite acceptable one. In fact, these two were probably the real threats. And look at that, they were under custody now. Huh. Guess Atsumu did manage to safeguard Kita-san's date. He knew he should have come. 

“Well, seems like our job is done. We're all going back now.”

“What? No!” Both Goshiki and Osamu cry out. Goshiki, because he didn't do anything yet, and Osamu, because he still had not eaten.

"No. I'm staying." Shirabu firmly says. 

"So you can be a creep and watch them eat? Uh uh."

"I don't trust your boss. I've got to make sure Ushijima-san is alright. You can't stop me."

"Yes, I can, little chihuahua of evil." Atsumu says as he holds the featherweight setter, planning to simply carry him back to Shiratorizawa. But Shirabu slaps his hands away, with annoyance. 

“No, you can't. Because if you try to take me by force—”

“You’ll what? Scream?” Atsumu grins. To make a fuss would only alert Kita-san and get them all in trouble. There was nothing the chicken could do. His smugness, however, quickly dies and turns into worry as he notices Shirabu's unchanging cold glare.

The meek little... terrifying setter, without a single drop of hesitation, simply says, "Yeah.”

Atsumu immediately gets Shirabu's intentions. Absolute horror. To even consider that was no sane person’s doing. They were out, at night, without anyone’s permission, causing a ruckus, while watching two people dating. If Kita-san caught them, it would be the scolding of their lives. Even if the chickens were from other school, they would still take the full blow too, and this mad man knew it.

Atsumu squints at the evil entity before him, “...you wouldn’t.”

“Wanna try?” Shirabu taunts, dead serious. 

Goshiki is completely terrified, and begs him to back down, “Shirabu-san, please don’t!” He knew he wouldn’t survive a direct Kita-san scolding.

Atsumu ponders the possibility of a bluff, but the bowl-cut’s fear seems too genuine. The boy knows full well that his teammate is willing to throw them all into the meat grinder of Kita-san’s judgement without a second thought.

_Ah, fuck!_

Atsumu's hands are tied. It's unbelievable how those boring plays from earlier could come from this vicious daredevil. Damn it!

“Fine! You can stay.” Atsumu bitterly admits his defeat, “But we’ll be watching you!” 

“Like I care.” Shirabu barks back, and positions himself on the window. 

Goshiki is soon following him.

And then, Osamu.

Atsumu, still seated with his back to the wall, angrily looks at his brother. _Et tu, Samu? Agh._ There was no one he could trust in this world… 

He crosses his arms, and sulks. Damn bunch of creeps. They can't even see much from this distance. And even if they could, what they wanted watching those two? They are probably just still eating in silence with zero interactions. It must be super boring.

As he thinks that, Atsumu looks at his brother again, and, _Whoa._ The guy has shining eyes of delight. Atsumu is intrigued at what could be going on there, until he remembers it's Samu, so it's probably just the food.

But he bets the other two must be bored then… Ah, no, they weren't. Shirabu seemed to be in pure bliss; and Goshiki had his eyes shot wide in absolute concentration. Wait. Could it be? Could things be happening there? Atsumu rushes to have a peek too. And! 

No. These three are just weirdos. Like he predicted, Kita and Ushijima are only eating. No talking, no exchanging of passionate looks, no anything but the constant chewing. It was super boring.

Well, boring, yet… so very soothing. Maybe it’s because of the yellowish lighting, and the faint sound of old songs, and the tasty smell of food, but it felt like there was a warming aura around those two. It's like being near a fireplace after a long day, watching the hypnotizing movement of the flames, letting the warmth sink into their tired bodies. Kita-san and Ushijima were just, so calm… 

After some minutes, any excitement they had was eventually gone, and the four melted over the window ledges, with a slight blush on their faces and half closed relaxed eyes.

At some point, Atsumu's fuzzy mind produces a thought. _Yeah… Kita-san is fine._

“I think we should go back home now.” 

Without taking their eyes from the scene, Goshiki quietly agrees, and the softened Shirabu just answers with a little hum.

The four stand up, prepare themselves to leave, and walk to the street.

They take a moment to let the cool air of the night refresh their minds. Atsumu looks up to the starry sky, and takes a deep breath. 

"Let's go."

Goshiki and Shirabu nod.

But Osamu says, “Ok. You go ahead. I’m getting something to eat.”

“Sorry, Samu, you can’t. From that place, Kita-san is sure to spot you entering. We'll find a way to let you eat some later, ok?”

"Yeah, we can manage something." softened and understanding Shirabu says. 

“Nah, thank you, but I'm hungry now."

"No, you'll be caught. You'll have to wait." Atsumu starts to feel apprehensive. 

"I'll say I just got lost and followed the good smell.”

Being brothers, Atsumu knew Osamu very well. Regular Samu is rather reasonable and calm. To be the bullshitter was Tsumu's job. So, when Osamu was the one saying something so clearly absurd, Atsumu knew shit was about to hit the fan.

It is a fact known by few, but when hunger hits him under the right circumstances, Osamu loses all his restraints and enters a nearly unstoppable berserker mode, until he gets his food.

Because of it's danger, everyone who knew about it always acted in a way to prevent it. Atsumu's original intention was to enter the restaurant, at least in the end, but with his head on the clouds, he had totally forgotten that. Dang it! How could he be so stupid? Thinking chickens were the problem, the fox had brought a tiger and let it starve. He needed to stop him. 

“You know that won't work. Just wait some. Our friends here will help, right?”

"Yes, Miya-san, please. We can get you a take out for later tonight." Goshiki desperately tries to please him.

“No can do.”

“Stop! You’ll get us killed!” Atsumu yells.

“Good death then. Bye.”

Aw, fuck! Atsumu tackles him. But Osamu is able to stand again with little effort, continuing his advance. Shirabu and Goshiki each grab an arm, using all their strength to hold him back, and Atsumu seizes the moment to jump on his brother again. But it was useless. To stop the beast, not even a full blast of Kita-san's paralyzing stare was enough, as berserker Osamu's hunger supressed any fear he had for his life. The only solution was to physically restrain him until he was fed. But, unless they had the right strategy prepared or a bulldozer like Ushijima, they would need both power and numbers. Unfortunately, the three lacked on the muscle department, and nothing could they do to stop berserker Osamu from reaching the restaurant’s entrance.

But right when Osamu was putting a hand on the knob, the door opens. A middle aged man of average size appears before them. The four look surprised at him. Then, in the blink of an eye, the middle aged man firmly holds the distracted Osamu, and spins in a quick fluid motion, using the beast’s own weight to take them to the other alley besides the restaurant. Atsumu and the eagles are just dragged along.

On the second the stunned Osamu opens his mouth to complain at the stranger, something is shoved inside it. Rage overtakes him, and he’s about to attack the middle aged man. But then, his brain finally finishes processing what had been stuffed in his mouth.

An onigiri.

Osamu immediately stops to munch it.

“Hm… This filling… Is this gyutan? So good…” he says with a smile and glittery eyes.

Atsumu, Shirabu and Goshiki look in awe at the stranger. In seconds, he had single-handedly turned berseker-mode Osamu to a happy little child.

"Is he your guy?" Atsumu asks the eagles.

Goshiki answers, feeling his blood get colder. "No… This is not Kawanishi-san."

Atsumu, now apprehensive, slowly turns to the stranger, "Then who is this?" 

—

Earlier, that same day, while the rest of the people was soaking in a hot bath, Tendou and Reon discussed the finishing touches on tonight’s plan. They were in a small room away from any curious eyes, when there's a knock on the door. Hayato comes in, bringing Inarizaki's Ren with him.

Surprised with the intrusion Reon asks what was happening, and Hayato explains that their plan to send an agent to guard the royal couple had been figured out, and that the other party desired to send someone as well. Ren assures there will be no interference, as they simply wished to offer their assistance. Tendou eyes the serious tall fox. 

“Don’t trust us, huh?”

Ren smiles, “You know we can’t.”

Tendou nods in approval, the older foxes deserve respect. “Smart. But you're aware that we’ll have to deny it if you don’t present us someone capable enough, right?”

“Of course. We are sending our best man.”

That, Hayato can attest to. He had seen that person's skills. It was even him who had figured them out and approached the libero asking for this meeting.

“Yeah, guys, he's good. I wouldn't bring him if he wasn't.”

“Oh. But how good is he?” Reon asks, interested on the mysterious figure. 

Ren answers, ominously, “Enough for you to not have noticed he had been with us this whole time.”

Reon and Tendou freeze as they feel a friendly tap on their backs. 

— 

"Hey, boys." Akagi cheerfully greets them, under a simple, yet surprisingly effective middle aged man disguise. 

"Akagi-san!" Atsumu says dumbfounded. He never expected this turn of events. How did he get here? Akagi-san had been with them at Shiratorizawa the whole time after Kita-san had left, there was no way he could have gotten here so— Oh, wait, he hadn’t… Looking back now, he was even missing on the Kita-san group hug. Poor Akagi-san... That was a once-in-a-lifetime event. But then, how did Atsumu not notice that? Hm... Oh, wait, he did. He remembers hearing Akagi-san enthusiastically talking with Shiratorizawa’s libero about an adventure on the fishing pond, so he assumed they were at that. Yeah... But wait. It was Shiratorizawa’s libero who crushed him on ping pong! Damn it! He let it slide right under his nose...

"What? A fox?! What is Kawanishi doing? How did you slip past him?"

"He didn't, Shirabu." A young businessman in overcoat joins them. "Akagi-san is my backup."

Shiratorizawa’s worst case scenario for the night was their pair of troublemakers and Atsumu trying to barge in the restaurant. They could reinforce surveillance at school all they wanted, but the best and most simple solution was to just place their reliable Taichi as gatekeeper. When in field, no other eagle had more respect than Taichi, and in a mission, even the stubborn Shirabu would listen to his words.

The problem was that the eagles had no idea about the threat lying in Osamu, whose full strength was unfortunately beyond the middle blocker’s physical abilities. He would need help. Fortunately, Inarizaki had someone. A shadow that could go under the radar at any given moment, who also carried enough strength and skill to deal with the beast.

"And this is why I'm Tai-chan's father now. Cool costume, isn't it?"

It is a courtesy of Shiratorizawa’s Drama Club’s Costume and Make-up Department. They had been more than happy to have two free practice dummies. 

“Awesome…” Goshiki says, getting filled by inspiration. Soon, he too would prove his value, and earn the right to use a full disguise like those. “Kawanishi-san, I won’t lose to you.”

Shirabu scowls at his words, “Save that to when you stop being such a scaredy-cat.”

The bowl-cut boy flinches at the hit. 

“Oh, yeah. That scream." Akagi casually says as he gives another onigiri to Osamu, "It almost blew everything up. We’re lucky the owners were quick to cover.”

Goshiki flinches even harder. The young ace knows his shortcomings, but how it hurts to have salt so blatantly thrown on his wounds. Agh… They are right. Forget getting disguises, after that fiasco they would probably never let him be part of a mission again. 

But Akagi wasn't finished speaking yet.

"You’ve gotta be more careful next time."

"Next time?” a glimmer of hope shines on the young boy’s eyes, but he quickly closes them in dismay, “No, this is the end of my career, I even disobeyed orders to come here."

"Nah, Goshiki, it’s not that bad.” Taichi says, “If they absolutely wanted you to stay home, you would be tied to a chair under heavy surveillance right now."

It's true. For a second, Shiratorizawa did consider that possibility. But as long as those four didn't disturb the couple, them going there to observe from afar wasn't the end of the world. It actually even served as a stealth practice. That's why they deemed just having someone to stop them from entering as enough.

“Do you get it? This mean your team has hope on you, young man.” Akagi tells Goshiki, and hands Osamu another onigiri.

The senior's words resonate in Goshiki's ears. It rekindles the fire in his eyes, and they blaze in determination.

“Understood! I’ll do my best!”

Akagi nods in approval to the boy. Now that the pep talk was done, and Osamu was eating the third onigiri, and there was 15 minutes until the royal couple’s take off, it was, “Time to leave, folks.”

Everyone just agree and start heading to the street, following Akagi. Taichi stays behind, to be the last on the line, when suddenly he hears sounds he shouldn’t be hearing now.

“Wait!”

Akagi immediately stops in his tracks, holding everyone behind him, right before they reached the street. Quickly, but with caution, they retreat to crouch, sticking close to the wall again. Then, only a few seconds later, there’s the sound of a door opening and people coming out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't find almost nothing about Akagi. So, there can be only one explanation to that.  
> He must be a secret agent.


	7. The Dessert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brief continuation of Kita and Ushijima's little date.

With only a clean set of plates before him, Kita carefully puts his chopsticks down. He glances to the side and watches Ushijima finish his dish. He doesn't leave even a single grain of rice behind. That was a good demonstration of the basics. Now, he just needs to get the last piece of tofu to wrap it up, and... oh, he’s using it to mop up the little hayashi sauce left on the plate. My, my… It’s not everyday Kita Shinsuke sees someone using that technique. 

“Commendable work, Ushijima-kun.”

“Thank you.” he simply says after wiping his mouth. 

Seeing they were both finished, the owner comes to pick the plates up, and ask if they want dessert. Ushijima, aware of Kita’s concern with food quantities, suggests for them to share one. The fox gladly agrees and they pick a portion of kinako mochi, just to sweeten the palate.

After eating the four little pieces of tasty chewy goodness, they check the clock, and see they still had 20 minutes to let the food settle down in their stomachs before the walk back to Shiratorizawa. Kita intended to just wait, while sipping some tea, but Ushijima, looking at the time left, suddenly came up with an idea.

“Kita-kun, could we leave now?”

“Sure. May I know why?”

“There’s something I want to do. But I’ll need your help.”

Kita agrees, and they quickly plan the next steps with the aid of Shiratorizawa’s brochure. Then, they split the bill and thank the owners for the delicious meal. The old couple happily waves them goodbye, telling them to come again someday.

Kita says he still can't make promises. But the way things were going, they most probably would.

"Isn't it, Ushijima-kun?" Kita asks, raising his eyebrows. 

"Yes." Ushijima agrees. At least on his part, because there's a birthday dinner scheduled for the week after next.

They calmly finish their goodbyes and head outside. Kita takes a moment to acclimate to the chilly air, as Ushijima closes the door behind them. 

“Ready to go?” the fox asks.

“No. I have another request.”

“Go on.”

A tiny blush appears on Ushijima as he asks, with that deep voice of his, “Can we hold hands?”

Kita looks surprised at him. Ushijima begins to wonder if he was getting ahead of himself, but the fox, with a short little chuckle, quickly changes the wide eyes to an amused smile.

“Of course.” he says, as he offers a palm to his partner.

Ushijima takes it, and Kita closes his fingers in a gentle grip.

“Now we’re ready?” he asks again.

“Yes.”

And they quietly walk away to their next destination. It’s a very close place, being just 3 blocks from the restaurant, and roughly still on the way to Shiratorizawa. It’s a small playground Ushijima sometimes visited when he was little. They stop in front of the beverage vending machine, and Ushijima asks what Kita wants. They settle on a can on hot houjicha for each one.

With warm drinks in hand, they make their way to a wooden bench. The couple sits, without sticking to each other, but still close enough. For a while, they just sip their teas as they observe the quiet playground, until Kita asks why Ushijima decided that he wanted to come here.

“Talking about my life reminded me of this place. Father used to bring me here sometimes. Since we were just giving time for digestion, I thought this was a good place to do it.”

Kita smiles. “I like your idea.”

Indeed, there’s something very soothing in drinking warm tea on a brisk night, under low lighting and away from people and noise. They stay like that, just having tea in complete silence, until it’s time to go back.

They calmly stand up and toss the empty cans on the appropriate place. Then, once again, Ushijima asks to join hands.

It’s so endearing, Kita can’t help doing some teasing.

“Wow, Ushijima-kun. Asking me to hold hands again? Your boldness impress me.”

“Thank you, Kita-kun. I figured that in this way, not only I can show my affection towards you, but it also facilitates keeping the same pace as we walk, and prevents me from going the wrong way again.” Ushijima explains. He's quite proud of this idea. 

Suddenly, Kita lets out a small chuckle. Ushijima watches it grow into a nice laughter with raised eyebrows. He wonders which part of what he said could have caused that. Nonetheless, he’s glad he did it. Kita-kun’s laugh is pretty. 

After the fox composed himself, he playfully says while smiling, “Great thinking, Ushijima-kun. In fact, it’s so good I think that, from now on, we have no choice but to hold hands every time we go on a walk.”

“Oh. Is that so?” He knew his idea was good, but not to that point.

“I’m afraid yes.” Kita says as he extends his hand.

“Very well.” Ushijima solemnly holds it. “I shall be in your care then, Kita-kun.”

“And so shall I, Ushijima-kun.” Kita answers, serious.

Then he smiles.

Ushijima smiles back.

And like when they first walked together that night, they quietly make their way back to Shiratorizawa dorms. This time around, however, there’s no more need for Ushijima’s pauses every now and then. It’s a little unfortunate Kita won’t get to see the cute way Ushijima-kun turned to him everytime he stopped anymore, but, he thinks the warmth on his hand should be well worth the trade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I once stopped by the strangely placed beverage vending machine that marked the middle of my way home, and had a tasty drink, while gazing alone at the vast tea fields, at 3 in the morning on a chilly quiet dark night after a hard day of work. 
> 
> I've never felt so at peace.


	8. The Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They will have to run.

“We’ll have to run.” Taichi tells the team.

They need to reach the nest before the royal couple, while making sure to not meet them on the way there. However, they didn’t know where Kita and Ushijima were heading to. They could very well be already on the way back to the school, or going to an entirely different place. Akagi goes tail them, to complete the escorting mission, while updating the five with their location. But until their destination was clear, the best option was to take a detour that avoided the most probable paths they could take.

Luckily, Taichi knew the area very well, and everyone there was an athlete in good shape, so it should be an easy task.

But it wasn’t.

Because any resemblance of focus these people had before was gone after they had listened to the couple’s talk in front of the restaurant.

Poor Goshiki’s head was too busy thinking how behind Ushijima he was. To ask his date to hold hands, on their second encounter?! How could he ever do that? He’d would probably just explode on the spot if he tried. Ugh, Ushijima-san is too bold!

Next there was Shirabu’s brain, stuck on repeat with the idea of Ushijima-san holding hands with someone. Then, all of a sudden, the thought of ‘good heavens, he might even have blushed’ pops from nowhere, and it changes to blushing Ushijima-san holding hands with someone.

Meanwhile, Atsumu was close to having a crisis. He’s almost sure he had heard a chuckle, but it didn’t have enough bass to be Ushiwaka. Was that Kita-san? It couldn’t be… But it could. Damn it! It must have been… Wait, but, no… But… Aaaaargh!

Then there was Osamu. He was just eating another onigiri. Besides that, he was in fact pretty focused. 

Anyway, the first minutes of the run were hard for Taichi. Good thing it was all it took to find out that the couple had stopped at the small playground nearby to have tea. He considers telling the news to the team, but he ends up opting for concealing the truth. If they knew, they could try to go there, so it was better to say that the two just had chosen a more scenic route home.

With that, Taichi had one less problem to deal with. But there still was another three slowing him down. The middle blocker considers doing something about it, but he decides to just leave at that. Even if was more bothersome, they would still make it home in time.

 _At least the Osamu twin was being easy to handle, just eating his onigiri._ He thinks. Then a sudden idea comes from the observation. 

“You guys didn’t have dinner yet, right? We should hurry.”

“Why? There’s still plenty of time until the cafeteria closes.” Osamu says.

“It’s true. But dinner today is katsu kare. And I'd say that, with two teams of extra hungry big volleyball players there, the chances of the tonkatsu ending are real. Rice, sauce and deep-fried scraps taste good, but, you know, our tonkatsu is very juicy and tender. You wouldn’t want to miss that.”

By the time Taichi was finished speaking, he had managed to draw full attention from the four. Hearing about food made their growling stomachs pull their brains back in place.

Osamu is the first to bolt away, even having already eaten four onigiris. Atsumu’s person-who-has-siblings survival instinct kicks in, and he immediately goes after his brother. The eagles watch them disappear around a corner.

The wrong corner. 

“Should... we go after them?” Goshiki asks, raising one eyebrow.

“No, give it some more seconds.” Taichi calmly answers. He knows there's only one person who would keep charging ahead without knowing the way, and these twins were nowhere near The Legend’s level.

Soon enough, the sound of steps starts growing back, and they reappear, running towards them.

Panting, Atsumu asks them, “How do we get there?” 

“This way. We’re taking a shortcut.” Taichi says, and starts to run.

Now with the four properly following him, it’s a breeze to reach Shiratorizawa. The crew finds everyone dining at the cafeteria, and, luckily, there’s still many tonkatsus waiting for them.

The twins pick their portions, then go looking for the other foxes. Aran kindly waves at them. Great. That means Suna and Gin’s cover story must had been successful and Akagi was yet to enter in contact. 

“Hi guys.” Atsumu says, while Osamu just raises a hand.

“Hi guys my ass!” Aran suddenly changes to angry mode, and gives each of them a reprehensive (light) jab on the head, before proceeding to scold them.

Atsumu tries to defend himself, presenting the “Akagi was there all along, so you knew this was going to happen” argument. Then it develops into a “you never had a drop of faith in me!” drama.

It hurts Aran’s feelings.

“That was like insurance! You have one to be safe, but the hope is to never need to use it! I always believed in you, Tsumu, It’s you who never noticed it!”

“I know you did, Aran-kun!” Atsumu shouts.

Of course he did. For him, Aran was the brother he never had! Ah, wait, scratch that, there’s Samu. Then… Aran was the one year older second brother he never had! Atsumu’s eyes start to tear, again.

“And I’m sorry, but I needed to protect Kita-san!” he continues.

“You fool!” Now it’s Aran who’s crying, again. “What do you think we’ve been doing all this time?”

“But you’ve sided with the chickens!” Atsumu wails.

“Nah, not really.” Akagi casually says, while eating a piece of tonkatsu.

Everyone startles as they suddenly notice the libero’s presence at the table. Akagi acted like he had always been there. He continues, “At least not in the way you’re thinking, Tsumu. You know the saying, keep your friends close, but your enemy closer, right? Well, we are not actual enemies, and our goal is essentially the same, and Shiratorizawa folks are nice, but working together assures that neither side is crossing the line, so it’s the best way to keep them in check. Also, your food is getting cold, and Shinsuke is arriving in,” he takes a look on his watch, “about 10 seconds.”

All the foxes instinctively hurry to fix their appearances and straighten their postures for Kita-san’s arrival, except Atsumu, who instead tries to be the most laid back he possibly can, in an attempt to avoid looking suspicious. By the time he noticed the effect of that was the exact opposite, Kita-san was already at the table, so he just turns to his captain, beaming, and asks, “Hey, Kita-san. Fancy meeting you here. How was your date?”

Atsumu fights to maintain his smile as Kita stares down at him. Under the table, his hands violently shake. _Ah… He knows… He totally knows._

“It was lovely.” Kita says in a relatively calm way.

With that answer, Atsumu releases the breath he was holding, but he has no time to take in a new one, because— 

“How were things here?” Kita asks his fellow third years.

Atsumu, now holding to his smile more than ever, turns towards them. He had forgotten that possibility. Telling on him would bring so many casualties it seemed highly improbable. But they were Kita-san’s most trusted allies. Would the many lives at risk be able to outweigh their loyalty? 

While the setter is almost fainting from the panic, the three seniors exchange looks. Akagi, completely carefree, turns down the corners of his mouth, raises an eyebrow, and nods at the other two. Then Aran and Ren, with that same expression, also exchange nods between them. Then, the three turn to Shinsuke and nod, saying with a little smile, “It was pretty good.”

Kita smiles too. “Good.”

Atsumu looks in complete confusion at the scene. What… was that? But before he could try to comprehend it, Kita asks if he was not hungry, reminding Atsumu of the katsu kare that had been waiting for him all this time. He looks down to find nothing. He instantly shoots his eyes at his brother.

“Samu, you hell pig, that’s mine!” 

“You’re the heartless monster who was letting the poor thing get cold. Go get another.”

“Agh, fine! My tonkatsu will be so big you’re gonna cry of envy!”

But there was only the deep fried scraps left when he went fetch another plate, and Atsumu was the one crying, again.

At least it was very tasty.


	9. The Elders Council

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inarizaki's third years meeting.

After dinner was over, while the younger foxes went to have a little more fun around Shiratorizawa, the third-years found themselves seated on the floor of a quiet place to discuss about the day and what to do on the next one.

When they were finished talking about business, the inevitable question about Kita’s date comes, and they hold a brief session of Q&A. Their reaction is basically “Aw, how nice”s, and “Oh, bold move.”s on the holding hands part. Then, after Kita considered it enough, he asks about the events he missed.

Aran and Ren tell him how Atsumu’s drama unfolded, and how they felt proud to see him caring about others so much.

“It was so touching, Shinsuke.” Aran says, dabbing his moist eyes.

“Yeah. It made me happy.” adds Ren, bringing a hand to his chest. 

The other three look at him, and pat his shoulders in support. Ren nods.

“Thank you.”

Then they tell how after that they played games with Shiratorizawa, highlighting the eagles’ impressive skills on the pool table. 

“How nice.” Kita concludes, “Anything else you might want to add?”

“Nope,” Aran and Ren both say.

Kita puts a little of pressure with his stare. “Are you sure?”

They smile. “Yep.”

“Ok.” Kita nods. “What about you, Michinari?”

“Eh, you know. Big school, much work. Just the usual secret stuff.”

“I see.” Kita calmly says, “Then, I guess this is it.”

Although Kita doesn’t know exactly what, he knows things have happened. The other three know that he knows, and he knows that they know that he knows. But Kita also knows that his fellow third-years, with this little play of theirs, are just trying to give him a break from having to worry with Atsumu’s antics all the time.

It’s a gift he’ll gladly accept. 

Kita places his cup of tea on the short-legged table and adjusts his posture to perfection.

"Aran, Ren, Michinari." He says, gravely, as he glances at them.

The trio straighten their backs. “Yes?” 

Kita smiles, and says as he gracefully bows, "Thank you, for helping this old fox have his little date." 

Aran, Ren and Akagi also smile, and in sync, they bow, saying "You're welcome."

Then Akagi raises a hand. "Ah, wait. I remembered something, captain."

"Yes?"

"Since I lost that group hug, I think now is the time to redeem my compensation."

"What? You've got a voucher or something?" Aran releases one of his retorts. 

"Well, I must have the right to at least a brief hug. Don't I, Shinsuke?" 

"Hm." Kita stares at him with a blank face. "Fair enough." He stands up and open his arms. "Do what you gotta do."

"Eh? That easy??" Aran shouts. 

"Yes!" Akagi says and happily goes hug Kita. 

Aran looks at them with disbelief. One does not simply hugs Kita Shinsuke, much less alone. He turns to Ren, who raises his eyebrows in a dissatisfied expression. Then they nod, stand up, and go join the other two, lifting them from the ground.

"Hey! No fair!" Akagi nags, "You already had yours! This is mine!" 

"No fair is you trying to have Shinsuke all for yourself!" says Aran. 

"Hm. It’s not good to be selfish, Akagi." adds Ren. 

"No! Stop! You're tainting Shinsuke's clean laundry and grilled meat scent with your old man smell!! Stop!!!"

Meanwhile, Kita just lets himself be carried, sandwiched between his three laughing friends. He would rather be on his feet, but he’ll let them have it this time. He chuckles with them.

Just like Shiratorizawa with Ushijima, it's amusing how much they care about him.

Kita is indeed very lucky.

Then something starts to beep.

"Is it yours, Shinsuke?" Aran asks as they put the two smaller foxes back on the ground.

"No. It’s mine." answers Akagi, "There's another job for tonight. I've gotta go, guys."

"The fishing pond adventure with Shiratorizawa's libero?" asks Ren. 

"Yeah."

"Ok." Kita says, "Just remember we're waking up at 6 tomorrow."

"Don't worry, boss."

After Akagi was gone, the remaining three went to start the procedures for sleep.

Little did they know, however, that the man who left them as a Akagi Michinari, the libero, would return as Akagi Michinari… the hero.


	10. The Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to say goodbye.

Things went just fine the next day.

They woke up at 6, successfully applied the ‘food is almost over’ strategy to take Atsumu off the bed, had a reinforced breakfast as they heard the news about how both the False King of the Fishing Pond and the elusive Shiratorizawa’s Spectral Poop Bandit had been caught by the authorities, and went to the gymnasium.

Keeping the momentum from their last match, Inarizaki was able to snatch the first victory of the day. It was, however, a particularly exhausting game, and on the second one, even though the foxes had an overall slight edge on stamina, Ushijima’s monstrous endurance resulted on the eagles’ win.

Lunch was at a well sized traditional restaurant. Each team got a long table for themselves, with Kita and Ushijima staying relatively close, sitting on the end of their respective tables.

It was a feast, with many big pots holding different dishes for them to choose from.

By being near Ushijima, while Kita appreciated the view of that beautiful chewing, he could also see how his teammates kept adding meat and vegetables to his bowl. 

"Wakatoshi, you need more green."

"Hm."

"Oh, this is delicious. Wakatoshi, you gotta have some."

"Hm."

"Here, Wakatoshi-kun."

"Hm." 

"Did Ushijima-san get enough meat? Give him these."

"Eh? Why me? I want meat too!"

“Just be glad you have tofu, Goshiki.”

“Eh??!”

“Ah, Tsutomu, here, you can have this.”

“Oh! Thank you, senpai!”

Kita smiles to himself. How amusing.

Back to his table, meat is also the cause for struggle. It begins with the twins’ battle for dominance. Then Gin joins the fight to secure a part for himself. Meanwhile, Suna sneakily steals the meat as they argue. Atsumu and Gin notice and make a common enemy of him. Osamu uses their distraction to get the other goods. Aran sighs and tells them to stop, saying they can eat from the pots on this side too. Then they notice Kita looking at them.

“Ah… Er, no. It’s ok, we will share here. Enjoy yourselves. Thank you, Aran-kun.” Atsumu says.

Kita smiles to himself. This is amusing as well.

— 

With happy full bellies, they do their farewells.

It was basically the third years talking among themselves, and the rest waiting nearby. It’s akin to that moment when your parents call you to head home, so you stop playing and go to where they are, but in the meantime they started talking with the other adults and now they will keep going forever, so you have to wait with the the rest of the kids again, which is essentially what you were doing before, but now there’s a slight awkwardness.

Atsumu tries to strike up a conversation. It starts ok, but when he does a backhanded remark on Shirabu, it quickly escalates to a battle of provocations. It’s pitiful how one-sided it becomes. Atsumu keeps trying to attack, but he always ends up being assaulted by a flurry of nasty cuts from Shirabu’s razor-sharp venomous tongue.

Suna watches it highly amused. He would love to have some popcorn right now. 

“Suna, stop recording and help me!” Atsumu cries out. 

“No, thanks. This is way too funny.”

“What is this?” Shirabu sneers, “You can’t deal with a single chicken alone? Pathetic.” 

“Aha! You called yourself a chicken! I win!”

“Ok. If a delusion is what your worm brain needs to stop annoying me, so be it.”

“Hahaha!” Atsumu laughs victoriously. Then he understands what Shirabu said. “Hey, I’m not a worm!”

Gin and Taichi take some steps back from the brutal murder, and watch it at a distance.

“Wow, your setter is scary.” comments Gin.

“Yeah.”

…

…

“Do you think they’ll keep talking for much longer?” Gin asks, pointing to the third years.

Taichi looks at his watch. “Some 15 minutes more.”

“Ah, 15 minutes…”

“Yeah.”

…

…

Ah… Poor Gin is at a loss. It would be weird to stay with his seniors, but he doesn’t think it would be any better to be near the bloodshed. Shiratorizawa’s middle blocker was his best option, but man, he is so quiet... Gin is starting to get nervous. He needs to do something.

Taichi notices the fox beside him getting agitated. Perhaps he should try putting more effort on his small talk, but… no. There’s a better option.

“Wanna play *‘isse no se’?" he calmly asks, moving his thumbs up and down.

Gin looks at him, relieved. “Yes, please!”

Meanwhile, far from everyone else, Goshiki ‘discreetly’ hands Osamu a package.

“As promised, here is your takeout, Miya-san. It’s not anything fancy, but should be a nice snack.”

“Oh, thank you, Goshiki-kun.” Osamu is filled with joy as he takes a whiff from the bag. “This smell… Karaage?”

“Whoa...” Goshiki is impressed by the fox's abilities. “Almost. It is karaage, but it’s inside an onigirazu, for easy eating on the move. The Chef heard about your passion, and tailored it specially for you, Miya-san.”

“Oh…” Osamu bows. “Please, send them my utmost gratitude.”

Goshiki nods. “Of course.”

When they return to the rest of the group, they find Atsumu, Shirabu and Suna also playing ‘isse no se’ with Taichi and Gin. Goshiki and Osamu promptly join them. 

At a distance, the third year's watch them, feeling very content to see the kids having fun together.

This weekend’s purpose, you see, was not to simply provide some practice for both of the teams (while also allowing Kita and Ushijima to meet). Even though they were (considerably) quite far apart, by doing this joint training, the wise elders hoped to establish a partnership between the two powerhouses; in a mutually beneficial connection that could help nurture the growth of the next generations.

Seeing their juniors getting along meant their plan was working.

"So, next year at Inarizaki?" Aran asks. 

"Hm, I think we have more space here." says Reon.

“Ah, that’s undeniable.” Ren nods. “But I assure you we do have enough space, and high quality facilities as well.”

“But you don’t have horses.” Hayato points out.

True, that’s a strong argument…

“But we do have a band!” counters Akagi, as he raises his hand.

“Ah, yes. The band.” Aran says, “You could watch the rehearsals. Or, who knows? They might even agree to play during the matches.”

It excites Semi. "Oh, that would be so cool!"

Yeah... It would. 

Everyone turns to Tendou. 

“Hm.” He ponders. "Not bad. What do you think, captain Wakatoshi-kun?"

"I like the idea."

"Good, good... “ Tendou nods. “What do you say, Kita-san?" 

"We would be more than happy to repay your hospitality."

Tendou turns to his colleagues, "Gentlemen?"

Reon, Semi and Hayato nod. 

"Ok. It's settled then. Next year at Inarizaki." Tendou says as he shakes hands with Kita.

“Very well.” the fox politely replies.

With this deal, they now secured another asset to help the next generation’s growth. The third years take a deep breath of satisfaction, feeling like they had accomplished their duty.

_Aah… How nice._

Then they see Shirabu jumping on Atsumu’s neck. And remember they still have plenty of work to do.

The foxes start moving to go there break the fight, but Reon holds them back.

“Ah, it’s ok. Leave this to Wakatoshi.”

When Shirabu lashes out, anyone who tries to stop him is under the risk of getting attacked too. Unless they are Ushijima. He just goes there and calmly picks the enraged setter up, moving him away like he held a little kitten. He then puts Shirabu back on the ground, turning him so they are face to face.

Ushijima looks him in the eyes, and says, “Fighting is bad, Shirabu. Don’t do it.”

The aggressive setter immediately shifts to a regretful good junior facade. “Sorry, Ushijima-san. It won’t happen again.”

Ushijima nods. 

In the meantime, the others check Atsumu. He is unharmed, but in total shock with the vicious evil chihuahua attack he just suffered. That thing is way more unhinged than he thought. Thank heavens it didn’t have enough strength to actually hurt anyone. With bare hands, at least.

Shiratorizawa apologizes for the happening, and Inarizaki, in turn, apologizes for the Atsumu’s teasing that lead to that.

Then it’s time to board the bus, and they do their final goodbyes.

The whole of Shiratorizawa enters in formation, and bow with perfect coordination as they say, “Once again thank you for coming.”

Ushijima, being on the front, goes after them, calmly leaning forward. “Thank you very much.”

Inarizaki’s third years immediately bow back. “Thank you for having us.”

Unaware they too had something planned, the rest of the foxes soon follow them. “Thank you!”

Then Shiratorizawa hands two bags to Ushijima, who in turn hands them to Kita.

“Here. These are egg sandwiches for your team, to eat on your journey back home. And these are fresh produce ( a courtesy from the Gardening Department of Shiratorizawa’s Farming Club) for you and your grandma.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Kita bows to Ushijima and the eagles. “That’s very kind.”

Ushijima nods.

Then silence fills the air.

This is it. The time has come.

They were finally ending the farewell. Everyone highly anticipated that moment. What were they gonna do? Nothing? Just nod to each other? A respectful bow? A handshake? A hug?? A k...kk...kiss???

Ok, it’s pretty much just Atsumu and Goshiki who thought about those two last options. But after the curve balls they had gotten from the couple that last month, not even the veterans were sure of what to expect anymore.

Kita gives the bags of presents to Aran, who quickly holds them, as he too is anxious.

Then, Kita looks at Ushijima.

Ushijima looks at Kita.

Everyone holds their breaths.

…

...

And, with a little smile, they exchange a firm handshake.

“Goodbye, Ushijima-kun.”

“Goodbye, Kita-kun.”

“Until our next meeting.”

“Yes.”

...

Phew…

A handshake. That’s very them. Everyone soften, feeling peace in their hearts as they watch it.

Then, some of them, just the most attentive ones catch it.

The subtle move of Kita tenderly brushing his thumb on Ushijima’s hand.

Their eyes widen.

The ones from Shiratorizawa (specially Tendou) get ecstatic, their inner voices screaming with excitement to see their Wakatoshi-kun having such tremendous success with his love life. It’s like he just scored a key point on a important game with a beautiful spike.

_WAKATOSHIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!_

On the other hand, the ones from Inarizaki just stopped working. Kita Shinsuke? Doing such PDA? Holy mother of Vabo-chan… Just marry the guy already, Shinsuke...

Then, after the couple finishes their handshake, as they also were the team captains, Kita decides he should issue the official declaration of war.

“We’ll be waiting for you at Spring High, ok? There’s a tie to break, so you better go.”

“Of course.” Ushijima firmly says.

The foxes and eagles stare at each other for a while before Inarizaki starts boarding the bus. As they go, both teams wave goodbyes and shout “Until Spring High!”, “Yeah!”, “We’ll crush you, bird-heads!”, “In your dreams, Mr. Crazy Chicken Guy!”, “I’M NOT CRAZY!!!”, “SHUT UP, TSUMU! MOVE!”, “OUCH! SAMU YOU BRUTE!”, “ENOUGH, TWINS!!!”, “Sorry, Aran-kun.”

In the end only Kita and Akagi are left. The libero tells his captain to go first, since he still wants to have some words with the eagles. Kita smiles at him, bows for the last time to Shiratorizawa, waves softly to Ushijima, and climbs the stairs.

With all the other foxes gone, Commander Tendou steps forward to shake Akagi’s hand.

“Once again, thank you for your services, Akagi-san. We couldn’t have done it without your help. I hope we can someday work together again.”

“Oh, of course. But it’s I who should be thanking you for this fun weekend. Thanks, chief.”

Tendou nods. 

Akagi then proceeds to shake hands with everybody, receiving their thanks as he goes.

When he comes to Taichi, the middle blocker respectfully leans his head forward.

“It was a honor working with you, sir.”

Akagi smiles, and does his superb middle aged man impression, “I can say the same, Tai-chan, my boy. Let’s spend some quality time as family again, ok?”

Taichi smiles. “Of course, Akagi-san.”

Then to Goshiki, the fox puts a hand on the boy’s shoulder, and cheerfully says, “You just need to control your agitation to get there, Goshiki-kun. Good luck.”

The young ace’s eyes ignite. “Understood!”

On Ushijima’s turn, Akagi holds the heavy hand, and calmly speaks, “You take care of Shinsuke, ok?”

Ushijima nods. “Ok.”

And, finally, Akagi stops in front of Hayato.

They look at each other eyes; lock their hands; and, with a quick pull, meet on a powerful hug.

“Goodbye, brother.” Akagi says, patting the other's back.

“Goodbye.” Hayato answers, with moist eyes, “Until the next adventure.”

“Yeah.”

“Take care, man.”

“You too.”

Shiratorizawa quietly watches them. What a beautiful friendship.

Then it’s time for Akagi to go. As he enters the bus, the eagles do their final bow.

For Inarizaki and everyone else, he might be just Akagi Michinari, the libero. But for Shiratorizawa, for those who saw him that night, he shall be forever remembered as Akagi Michinari, the unsung hero who brought peace back to all the restrooms of Shiratorizawa Academy.

All eagles salute, to the Poop Bandit Slayer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poop bandits are real. They walk among us.
> 
> *'Isse no se' is a game where you have to guess how many thumbs people are going to raise. It goes by many different names. Within my friends, we just asked if someone wanted to play while moving both thumbs up and down. You can find further instructions on how to play by searching 'isse no se thumbs game' on google.


	11. The Gyutan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are not over yet.

Inside the bus the foxes talked.

“... anyway, why are we still stopped? Are we waiting for something?” Atsumu asks.

“Nah.” Akagi casually says from the seat behind him.

“Ah, Akagi-san.” Atsumu gets a little confused. “Were you always here?”

“Yup.”

“Oh, ok. So, where were we?”

“On my turn, asshole.” Osamu says, annoyed.

They were in the middle of another Kita-san Q&A.

“You can tell me your question now, Samu” says Kita.

Osamu quickly returns to his curious child state. “What did you eat there, Kita-san?”

Kita takes a second to formulate his sentence. “Well, since we came all the way here, of course it was gyutan, with its usual side dishes. And some tofu. I also got a taste from Ushijima’s hayashi rice.”

 _Ah, gyutan. Of course,_ everyone thinks. Once in Sendai, one has to eat gyutan.

For Atsumu it’s interesting how something like beef tongue could become such a famous dish. _Oh, yeah, and speaking of it, does Ushiwaka eat gyutan? Because, boy, it must be weird to eat your own tongue! Hahaha._

As he enjoys his own joke, the silly wordplay suddenly sets off a chain of thoughts inside Atsumu’s head. _Wait a moment…_ Gyutan. Beef tongue. Ushiwaka’s own tongue. Taste from Ushijima’s hayashi rice. Time alone after they left holding hands. Kita-san’s chuckle. Subtle jokes, hard to catch.

_Oh, no..._

Atsumu suddenly stands, nervously holding the seat back.

“Ki...kki..kita-san. What do you mean by gyutan?” he asks, apprehensive.

Kita looks at him, confused by the strange question. He tries to think an explanation, but there’s not much to say. “Gyutan is gyutan, Tsumu. You know, beef tongue. The tongue of a cow.”

On a regular day, Miya Atsumu would have asked some more before reaching any conclusion. And even then, he would have negated this particular one until it was forcefully shoved in his brain by undeniable evidence.

This Miya Atsumu, however, was not on a regular day. After having gone through so much shock, his mind was in such paranoid state that gyu, beef, cow and any other term for cattle could only mean one thing. As result, after being processed by Atsumu’s brain, Kita-san’s words were translated into ‘“Ushiwaka’s tongue is Ushiwaka’s tongue, Tsumu. You know, Ushiwaka’s tongue. The tongue of an Ushiwaka.”

As he saw Atsumu’s face start to contort into an expression of ultimate terror while he fearfully heaved, Kita actually was able to catch what the setter had understood. But he wasn't fast enough to prevent him from releasing the scream of the century.

**“OH MY GOOOOD! KITA-SAN KISSED USHIWAKAAAAAA! GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”**

By the time they managed to stop Atsumu’s crisis, it was too late. The combination of the the sonic shock plus the notion of Kita-san having k...kk...kissed someone was so much, Aran and Ren’s systems fried and they fainted. Worse than that, by doing it in the bus, even coach Kurosu ended up being affected. Akagi ran to his aid, but soon he too succumbed to fainting.

And it didn't stop there.

The scream had been powerful enough to break through the windows and travel the very short distance the bus had covered since their departure a few seconds ago, and claim more victims.

Goshiki, Shirabu, Reon, and Semi, unfortunately, had also fainted. Luckily, the others had been fast enough to catch them before they could hit the ground.

While handling the bodies, the survivors promptly question Ushijima if he and Kita-san had really kissed. 

Ushijima takes a moment to recall yesterday’s events before just calmly saying, “No. Not that I remember.”

Then he gets somewhat concerned and asks Tendou, serious, “Should I have done it?”

Tendou softly looks at his friend. “Nah. It’s ok, Wakatoshi-kun. You remember the guidelines, right?”

“Yes. But what if I missed something?”

“Hm…” Tendou stops what he was trying to do to think a little. “Eh, don’t worry. I’m sure that old fox wouldn’t let it happen.” he casually says.

Then Ushijima furrows his eyebrows in profound confusion. It’s true he should be a capable person since he was responsible for a team as strong as Inarizaki, but, “How would Inarizaki’s coach achieve that?”

Ah… Tendou had thought he could use that term without problem now that Ushijima knew they called the members of Inarizaki ‘foxes’. He got careless. 

“Pardon my wording, Wakatoshi. By old fox I mean Kita-san.”

“Ah, I see.” Ushijima nods. That makes more sense in that context. “But Tendou, Kita-kun is not—”

“Pardon again." Tendou says, raising a hand. "By old I mean experienced, wise, responsible.”

“Ah, I see.” Ushijima nods. It’s true, Kita-kun is very responsible. “Hm... You’re right. He wouldn’t let that happen.”

Tendou smiles at his friend. “See? No need to be worried.”

“Yes.” Ushijima nods, relaxed.

“Now. How about you start moving, Wakatoshi-kun? 

“Sure. To where?”

“That tree with the nice shade over there. You can go ahead, we’ll be right after you.”

“Ok.”

And finally, to Tendou’s relief, Ushijima leaves his spot.

_Phew._

Even if the middle blocker was used to Ushijima, it still was a little mind boggling to watch him just stand there, casually chatting, with an 82.4 kg Reon over his shoulder. 

...And then, to proceed putting a 70.5 kg Semi over the other one, like he was no heavier than a medium duffle bag, and calmly walk away.

The others quietly watch him go, with blank faces; their amazement being suppressed by the ‘Well, that’s Ushijima. What else did they expect?’ 

Tendou sighs. “Ok. Taichi, I’ll leave Shirabu to you. Hayato, we deal with Goshiki. Now.” he puffs up his chest and points to Ushijima. “After that beautiful man!”

“Ou!”

— 

On Inarizaki’s side, things have fortunately returned to normal before they had to carry four bodies out of the bus.

Atsumu’s trial was held, and, although there were three casualties (and possibly more), including their coach, he ended up receiving the Not Guilty verdict.

Everyone knew he had gone through a lot. 

It is Kita who assumes the responsibility.

Even if a good part of the mental blow Atsumu had suffered was caused by Atsumu himself, while he tried to pick a fight with Shiratorizawa, the other part may have been avoided if Kita had told them he was dating Ushijima in advance.

But either way, Atsumu would still be having some wild reactions. Kita knew he would have difficult to accept his dating, but he never imagined it could lead to a collateral damage of that degree.

Maybe he did rush things.

Maybe his friends weren’t ready yet. Even Aran and Ren… and coach.

Maybe, he had asked too much of Atsumu.

It's true the setter should have maturity enough to deal with things, and Kita was on the right to do whatever he wanted to do with his personal life; but, he still had responsibility over Atsumu. He was his captain, and senior, after all. And if anyone asked Kita Shinsuke what were his priorities at this time of his life, he would, without batting an eye, always place his club duties above the pursuit of romance. 

Because spring can wait.

His junior’s well-being can’t.

...

Kita closes his eyes, and takes a deep sigh.

He has made a decision. 

“I’m sorry, Atsumu. If it is endangering your mental health to this point,” Kita solemnly says. “I guess I can postpone my love life to after graduation.”

This is a sad outcome for Kita…

But not really, because, you see, this is Kita-san we’re talking about. It’s actually quite feasible for him, as he has just some months left to graduate, and wasn’t going to meet Ushijima that often anyway since they, you know, live at least 5 hours by two local and two bullet trains away.

The only question was if Ushijima would agree, but Kita knew he most probably would. And even if they were officially on hold, they still could continue exchanging their daily e-mails.

In fact, with exams season and Spring High on the horizon, that actually might be the best option. And they would be saving some big money with the train fares. Hm. Maybe Kita should really go for it— 

“Eh? What? NO!” Atsumu jumps up and starts flailing a finger around, “Nonononono! No! Don’t even think about it, Kita-san!" he fervently speaks while using his whole body to gesticulate. "You’re gonna date that cow, hold his hand, and show those chickens who’s boss! And I will deal with it. You can even kh… k...ki…” Atsumu does his best, but it’s still a word too strong for him. “...ssss…..eat gyutan. I can handle!” he thinks a little better. “Ok, maybe not yet. But I’ll try my best! So… don’t postpone it just because of me” he claps his hands and shakes them over his head. “Pleeeease!”

Oh, dear Vabo-chan! What has he done??! If Kita-san gave up his love life just because of Atsumu's stupid antics he would gnaw himself for all of eternity!! He wouldn’t be able to live like that… Aaargh...

Suddenly something touches his head. Atsumu startles. He is being… petted. That’s odd. He usually gets patted. Not petted. Hm... He slowly looks up, to find Kita-san, warmly smiling at him.

Kita watched Atsumu’s speech with wide eyes. He had probably never seen someone talking with so much intensity before. Well, maybe Aran? Not sure… But Atsumu certainly got the record for most dramatic gesticulations. It was incredibly entertaining. _And so very adorable…_

Maybe Atsumu did mature a little bit.

The old fox chuckles.

“Ok.” Kita softly says, while still petting his junior’s head. “I'll do as requested. Just don’t go knocking people out again if I do ‘eat gyutan’, ok, Tsumu?”

He beams. Recharged by Kita-san's kind words, Atsumu's spirits soared to the skies. He inhales deeply, and says to his captain, “Yes, sir!”

The scene warmed the hearts of all who watched, and it certainly would remain as a fond memory of youth for them.

But while they were at it, a single thought went through all of their minds.

_Aah… Atsumu totally didn’t notice Kita-san had just joked…_

— 

During the bullet train ride, even though it was still afternoon, with bellies filled by egg sandwiches (and an extra special tasty treat on Osamu’s case), all the foxes were in deep slumber, save for Kita Shinsuke, who was on his phone.

Ushijima had sent a picture. It was a strange composition of four people sleeping, aligned under a tree shade, with a neutral faced Ushijima doing a peace sign on the side. The text (properly formatted) said,

“Good afternoon, Kita-kun. How do you fare?  
Tendou has requested me to send you this picture and ask ‘How many casualties did the banshee’s scream cause on your side?’  
Sincerely, Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

Kita smiles at his phone. He takes a picture of his sleeping teammates (which included an Aran making a funny face while being sandwiched by the drooling twins), and sends it back, along the photo Suna had taken earlier.

“Good afternoon, Ushijima-kun. I’m doing well. And you?  
Please, tell Tendou that 'as the first picture attached shows, three people fainted, and the banshee itself remained motionless, although he had consciousness.' Fortunately, they all easily recovered, and are now resting, as the second picture attached shows.  
Are your friends fine as well? Also, I must thank you again for the sandwiches; they were delicious.  
Sincerely, Kita Shinsuke.”

“Good afternoon, Kita-kun. I’m doing well too.  
Understood, I'll tell him. I’m glad your friends are fine. Mine are too. I’m also glad you liked the sandwiches. The Poultry Department of the Farming Club will appreciate your compliment.  
Thank you for coming this weekend. I enjoyed it very much. I’m looking forward to our next encounter.  
Sincerely, Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

“Good afternoon, Ushijima-kun.  
I too enjoyed it very much.  
We can begin planning our next encounter later tonight, if you agree to. You can also ask for your friends’ help again; they are very good at making plans. Please send them my gratitude.  
I will ask my friends too. But later, because for now, I think I will join them in their sleep.  
Sincerely, Kita Shinsuke.”

“Good afternoon, Kita-kun.  
Ok, I will tell them.  
Have a good sleep.  
Sincerely, Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

And, with a calm smile on his face, Kita closed the mail application, and set an vibrating alarm for an hour. He then put his phone on his pocket, folded his arms, and closed his eyes, to soon join his friends on their comfortable afternoon nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End.
> 
> ...but not really. I still want to do some extras.  
> But thank you for reading up to this point.  
> I hope it was enjoyable.


	12. Extra 1: It's hard to be Aran-kun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day Aran uncovered the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This event actually was the first thing I wrote in this story.  
> So I thought it should take a few days to wrap it into an epilogue.
> 
> But it's hard to write Aran-kun.  
> There's too much pressure.  
> How could I ever honor such Master of the comedic arts?  
> He even went to the M-1, while I was here in my struggle.
> 
> In the end, it took me more than 3 months to finish this.  
> Haha...  
> (Well, at least I've brought some... neat bonuses at the end)
> 
> I hope it's enjoyable.
> 
> \---
> 
> Glossary:
> 
> _Manzai_ : traditional style of comedy where a funny man and a straight man trade jokes at high speed. 
> 
> Funny man (or _boke_ ): the one that makes the misunderstandings and say absurd things. Ex: the Miya twins.
> 
> Straight man (or _tsukkomi_ ): is the one that retorts to the funny man's absurdities. Ex: Aran-kun.
> 
>  _Harisen:_ a giant paper fan often used by the straight man to hit the funny man.

**It's hard to be Aran-kun**

Aran and Kita are good friends. They are in the same year, go to the same club, and live in the same area; which is why they also go home together everyday after school.

On their way, there’s a commercial street, full of little shops, and it was a habit of theirs to stop at one on fridays; usually to try a new item. This time, it was bubble tea with the new topping of egg pudding. 

The duo goes enjoy their acquisitions by the riverbank nearby, where they can have a nice view of the afternoon sun.

While gazing at the shimmering water reflections, Aran takes a sip from his bubble tea. He never had imagined that pudding could go so well inside a drink. But then again, he also never would have had the idea of putting chewy little balls in milk tea. Anyway, what a nice treat for today. 

He sighs in contentment. The week was finally over. No more struggling to wake up early in the morning, no more long hours at unending classes, no more arduous national powerhouse-level training, but most importantly, no more twins' antics.

Ah… 

At last, peace.

And what's better to celebrate it than bubble tea on the riverbank, with the calm and quiet Shinsuke.

Ah, yes. The good old Kita-san. One of the few people that usually allows Aran to take a break from his duties as the straight man.

In fact, sometimes he even gets the chance to be the funny man for once. Like now, when he looks to the side, and finds Kita smiling at his phone.

It's very rare to see him doing that. Aran doesn't lose the opportunity and, giving in to his old man's instincts, he lets out the classic, "Oh, what are you smiling at, Shinsuke? Is it your crush?"

"No.” Kita answers with a flat tone. “Of course not, Aran." 

_Haha, yeah, of course not._ Aran is well aware of how absurd that idea is. Even if that old fox ever did have romantic interest for someone, he would just take immediate action and ask them out. Shinsuke would never have crushes. 

"It's my boyfriend." Kita explains. 

See? This is what Aran is talking about. No such thing as time lost in pining; like an arrow, Kita Shinsuke just goes directly for the… boy… friend?...

Aran's eyes widen.

He blinks a few times.

He stares at Kita. 

Then he blinks some more. 

Then... he dismisses it, with a laugh. "Ohoho… Ah, sorry, Shinsuke. I swear I heard you saying you have a boyfriend." he comments while cleaning an ear with his pinky.

_Mr. Kita ‘not interested right now’ Shinsuke? Having a love affair? Yeah, right…_

"Maybe age really is catching me."

"No, Aran,” Kita calmly says, “you heard right. I did say that. Here." He shows a picture on his phone. "Isn't he handsome?"

Aran looks at an awkward image of two very serious people doing a peace sign. One is Shinsuke, but the other…

"Is this…?" He asks, pointing to the photo.

Kita nods.

Aran squints at him. 

"How…?"

"Long story."

— 

Some minutes later, after quietly listening to Kita’s retelling of events, Aran very calmly speaks, nodding to himself, "Ah, so that's what happened? I see, I see."

He then notices Kita looking at him, like the old fox expected something.

"Oh. Are you waiting for me, Shinsuke?"

Kita nods.

"Ah, sorry. I felt it would be better to let you finish first. I can… go now. If you want it." 

Kita politely gestures with a hand for Aran to continue. 

"Oh, sure. Could you hold this for me, please?"

Kita nods, and takes Aran’s cup of bubble tea.

“Thanks,” the ace says, and calmly stands up, tapping away any dirt that might have stuck to him.

He then takes a moment to look at the peaceful scenery of the riverbank, bathed by the warm sunlight.

Aran turns to Kita, and smiles, with a profound serenity.

He then takes a deep breath. 

And like a log, he drops to the ground.

"THE HELL, SHINSUKE??? WHAT ARE YOU, A MAYFLY? DO YOU HAVE ONLY 24H TO FIND A PARTNER BEFORE YOU DIE?? AND HOW COULD USHIWAKA SAY YES SO FAST?? HOW DID HE EVEN MANAGE TO GET HERE?? HOW DID HE NOT KNOW THIS WAS HYOGO?? WHO DOES THAT???! IT MAKES NO SENSE! IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE?? DO WORMHOLES JUST RANDOMLY POP IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE GOES THROUGH THEM WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT?? BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY EXPLANATION I CAN THINK OF!! IS THERE NO LIMIT TO HOW STRAIGHTFORWARD PEOPLE CAN BE?! WHAT IS THIS???? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

The scream traveled through the riverbank, silencing all that stood on its way, both people and animals, as they stopped to watch. After it's finished, there is only Aran on the ground recovering his breath, and silence.

But soon enough, the sound of hand claps reaches his ears. And he props his head up to find Kita, quietly clapping his hands.

… alongside a few kids.

"Ah, thank you, thank you." Aran says as he gets up, bowing a couple of times to his audience.

“Wow! That was a cool retort, mister.” chirps one of the children.

"Oh, you think so? Thanks, kid."

Then, as the ace waves them goodbye—after a brief lesson about the Way of The Straight Man, and why you should think twice before taking it—a faint sound of clapping resumes behind him. He turns to look at the source; and there is Kita, with his soft clapping. 

“Getting new fans wherever you go. As expected of Aran-kun.”

With a smile on face, Aran closes his eyes, and nods… 

Then in a sudden uproar, he opens them, and— 

_PAH!_

He slaps Kita with an imaginary _harisen_ . 

“Oh, don’t you clap to me, you little rascal! You did this on purpose! Just like the twins!”

"Ah, but, Aran," Kita calmly says, "it was such a fantastic performance. It surpassed all my expectations. I particularly liked the way you went from 0 to 100.” He smiles. “Magnificent job." 

A little blush appears on Aran.

“A—aw, thanks, Shin.” he coos, rubbing the back of his head, genuinely flustered. The ace just knows that even if Kita is being playful, he always means what he says. “I’m happy that you appreciate my work.”

But…

“It doesn’t change the fact that you schemed against me, though.” he adds, glaring at the old fox. 

Kita chuckles. “I won’t deny it.”

Aran slowly shakes his head in disapproval. 

Kita answers with a little smirk.

Aran then gives him one last reprehensive stare… before finally easing up to an amused look.

“Well, but all those absurdities apart, congratulations, Shin.” he smiles and nudges his friend. “I’m happy for you, man.” 

“Thank you.” Kita smiles back.

Feeling at peace once again, the straight man takes a deep sigh; and leisurely leans back on his arms, gazing at the sky. 

“So… Ushiwaka, eh? I'm impressed.”

_Yeah…_

Shinsuke really is incredible.

Aran has pondered about this before. He believes it takes quite some courage to ask someone out. Because, like many things in life, it's a decision. And as a decision, it may lead you to good outcomes, as well as to bad ones.

The issue in this case is that the bad ones can be quite painful to one's heart. And as a result, it’s easy to let ourselves be held back by fear.

The fear of failure.

The fear of rejection.

The fear of not being enough.

The simple fear of getting hurt.

But while we are there, trying to overcome them, good opportunities might slip by. And by the time we notice it, it may be too late to turn back.

And in the end, all we might have left is the bitter taste of regret…

…

But, luckily, that’s no struggle for the one named Kita Shinsuke; as fear can nothing do against his ever steady advance.

And that's a reason why he is so incredible. Because, you see, despite that, Shinsuke is actually not a very courageous guy.

_No, no… Not at all._

Aran looks at the horizon. 

_Who needs courage, if you have no fear?_

Kita Shinsuke may have never shown interest in the pursuit of romance; but, Aran was sure that, if he ever did decide to try his luck on the sea of possible partners, then the old fox had the potential to catch absolutely anything, simply because he wasn't afraid to try. 

Is it a humble Sardine who caught his attention? He'll set his line.

Is it a timid Giant Oarfish? He'll set his line. 

Is it a 7 meters long Great White Shark from far away that somehow appeared on these local waters? You're goddamn right he'll set his line.

Because Kita Shinsuke has no fear! Any eligible bachelor this ocean holds is game!

Aran looks at the horizon. 

He just, you know, never imagined mother fucking Godzilla was an option… 

Ah… yes. Ushijima Wakatoshi. The Southpaw Menace.

That big and powerful physique. With an intensely intimidating serious presence. And an unbelievable ability to travel through long distances.

Ushiwaka is no doubt ‘King of the Monsters' material.

Well, at least based on what Aran knows. Which is not much, given that he only had seen the guy a few times before, and they never had a proper conversation. 

But they had greeted once, though.

Or at least Aran thinks they had.

It was… unusual.

They met by chance in front of the bathroom, and the dude just stared at him. Aran, unsure, cautiously kept the eye contact. Ushiwaka then said Aran's full name. Aran, starting to feel slightly concerned and without knowing what to do, just said Ushiwaka's in return. The guy nodded. Aran nodded back. Then Ushiwaka walked away. 

And that was it. 

So… 

“All I know about him is that he is big, has some mean eyebrows, a deep-ass voice, doesn’t talk much, and can be quite oblivious.” Inarizaki’s ace concludes, still looking to the sky.

He then calmly stands up, does some little tapping on his clothes, and turns to Kita, offering him a hand. “Tell me more, Shin. What is Godzilla-kun like?”

"Godz—? Ah." Kita gives a little chuckle. “Godzilla-kun. Sure."

Then as the two pack their things and return to their stroll back home, the old fox carefully recites his answer to Aran, explaining how Ushijima-kun is well mannered, composed, confident, careful, succinct, and overwhelmingly sincere.

"Simply put, he is just a very proper person." Kita says, with a pleased expression. 

Aran gently nods in response. "Ah, so that's how he is. I see, I see."

With this new information at hand, he tries to update his mental image of Ushiwaka. 

Hm… _Let’s see…_

We get the intensely intimidating serious presence…

And add well mannered. Composed. Confident. Careful. Succinct. And overwhelmingly sincere…

Simply put, just very proper.

_Ah… yes…_

Aran looks at the horizon. 

"Your boyfriend is basically a beefier you." 

Kita's eyes turn to him, in mild surprise. "Oh." He looks down for a moment. And mumbles that, obviously it’s not the complete picture, and he feels like there’s something more that greatly differentiates them. "But… basically…" He looks up. “I guess that's a way to put it.”

 _Ah… good._ Aran closes his eyes. _Another painfully blunt paragon of properness…_

No wonder Shinsuke was so fast at pulling the trigger. His sharp senses must have felt their proper-energy waves syntonizing.

Hm. This is worrying. The world might not be ready for the power of two Shinsukes combined. Plus all that beef.

A vision of people running away, while the town is engulfed by an ever growing field of dignity produced by the imposing couple, plays on Aran’s mind. 

_Oh, dear Vabo-chan… Can we survive the alliance between these kaijus of properness?_ he wonders to himself. 

Then he notices something. 

_Wait_ . _'_ _These’? Is Shinsuke a kaiju too?_

Hm… 

Well, he sure is scary. But he is also relatively compact and soft looking. And, instead of a wild force of nature, he feels more like a… benevolent deity, who watches over us.

Yeah… 

That's not very kaiju-like. From all the big lizard's friends, there's not really someone like that, except for…

...

Suddenly, Aran’s eyes widen.

He might not have been aware, but at the moment he made the Ushiwaka-Godzilla connection, another one had been born. But it was only now it emerged from the cocoon. 

Aran is dumbfounded. In all these 2 and a half years, how could he have failed to see? It was all there! The fearlessness, the unwavering sense of duty, the big eyes that reach the soul. And… holy cow, there's even the twins!

My gods… 

That’s it!

“Dude, you’re Mothra!” he suddenly announces.

It startles poor Kita out of his reflection, and, a little lost, he can only ask, “I what?”

"It's Godzilla and Mothra!" Aran declares, before proceeding to excitedly explain his vision.

From a delighted little "Oh," an amused smile grows on Kita's face, while he listens to Aran’s theory. 

As someone who grew up watching them, big monsters, brawling on the screen, of course he has a soft spot for the atomic lizard and the brave giant moth.

(And also, even if he doesn't really think he deserves the title, somewhere in his little heart, being called a monster just makes him feel happy.) 

The two boys merrily start to discuss about stuff like how the Miyas would totally do a singing number if they heard this idea; or how the hollow earth tunnels could actually be the secret to Ushiwaka's incredible travelling ability; and who could King Ghidorah be in this context. 

“That's a good question, Dr. Ojiro. We better ask Ushijira-kun himself.”

"Please do, Kithra-sama." Aran respectfully bows. "—oh, but, would he play along? He looks so serious…" 

"He would," says Kita. "At least he would try to. It's very cute."

"Wait. Cute?" Aran asks, confused.

"Ah.” Kita's expression brightens up a bit. “That's it." 

"That’s it what??" Aran asks, confused.

"The something more that differentiates me and Ushijima-kun." 

"That he is cute?" Aran asks, confused.

"Yes."

"Er…" The scene of The King of the Monsters staring at him, with those mean eyebrows, and saying ‘Ojiro Aran’ with a deep-ass voice replays in his mind. He squints at Kita. "...how?"

"Hm… Good question.” Kita says, and proceeds to think some more. 

Aran waits, staring at the old fox slightly slumping forward, with chin in hand.

…

“It’s his sincerity, I believe.” Kita eventually concludes. “Somehow, it differs from mine. It feels… softer. As if, instead of actively choosing to be honest, he just… is. Reminds me of a childlike innocence." he calmly says. Then he looks at Aran, and fondly lifts a corner of his mouth. "It's very endearing.”

Aran’s heart softens, as he sees that warm expression. And a gentle smile grows on his face.

Looks like Shinsuke really found someone he likes.

_Ah…_

"How nice, Shin." he says, almost a whisper. "But you've got something wrong there."

‘Oh.” Kita looks at him, tilting his head in curiosity. "What, Aran?" 

The taller boy then embraces his little friend with an arm. And gently pats his head. "You can be cute too, you silly old fox."

The sudden display of affection surprises Kita a little. And it's not very comfortable; as the extra weight compresses him, and messes with his balance. But he just quietly blinks, and enjoys the warmth for a moment. 

Then he moves out from under his friend’s head; and frowns at him, asking, "What are you talking about, Aran? I'm terrifying."

A smile of infinite kindness grows on the other’s face; and with the arm still wrapped around Kita, he lightly pets the fox’s silver hair, before saying, "Well, that's true."

Kita smirks.

Aran smirks too. 

Then, they both let out some good chuckles. 

"Ok, ok… Let me correct it then.” Aran clears his throat. “So, your boyfriend is basically a beefier you," he pauses. Before making puppy eyes and adding “But cuter?” 

“Sounds good.” Kita nods. “Oh, and, do put beefy on that.”

"Ah, sure. I know." Aran looks up and waves his hands, as he repeats the usual comments. "100% beef. The whole cow. It’s even more impressive in person."

“Yeah...”

“But to be honest, I wouldn't say I’m that behind. What do you think?” Inarizaki's ace playfully asks while looking at a flexed arm.

“Hm. Pretty close.”

“Isn't it?” Aran turns to Kita, with an exaggerated smug in face; but it quickly dies down as he finds the smaller man staring at his own palms, placed in front of his chest. 

"I'd say he has a… 9% advantage in size. But I have no idea about the feel." Kita says as he looks up to Ara— 

_PAH!_

The imaginary _harisen_ strikes again. 

“THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT?!” Aran yells, “Shinsuke, you dog!”

“I couldn’t avoid noticing.” he calmly explains. “With our heights, I don't have much choice. And you know me, Aran. I just can't help being attracted to them…”

“Yeah, yeah…" Aran rolls his eyes. 

"Nice, heavy breasts." they both say at the same time. Kita, while staring at his hands; and Aran, into a not so distant past.

It all started in their first year. One day, while they were changing clothes in the locker room, Aran noticed Kita staring at him. Then looking down at himself. Then staring at Aran again. And sighing. 

"Is there anything wrong, Shinsuke?" 

"Oh. Sorry, Aran. I was just wondering how it must be."

"How it must be what?" 

"To have nice, heavy breasts." Kita said, while holding his own chest.

Aran gave him a nice retort for that; but he felt for his smaller colleague. The way he sometimes wistfully looked at their older—and bigger—teammates… It was like seeing a little kiwi watch the other birds fly through the sky.

It was… endearing.

Unless it happened right in front of the people he was looking at.

Which did.

More than once.

Thankfully, on the times they failed to prop his chin up in time, the senpais had always been very supportive, giving tips to achieve their gains and everything.

So, Shinsuke’s habit ended up being unexpectedly helpful; as they managed to compile quite some good knowledge about muscles. Nonetheless, Aran is relieved he stopped doing that—probably the result of gaining a bit of bulk himself, and getting further improvements in stealth.

But, sometimes, when they were among close friends and a situation called for it, the composed old fox still talked about his interest, letting out those three familiar words.

Kita nods. "They just fascinate me.”

"I know." Aran puts a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "But don’t forget to look at his eyes when you talk, ok, buddy?" 

"Of course."

Aran gives the shoulder some taps, and rolls his eyes again.

_Ah ah… This little fella and his fondness of strong chest._

Aran looks at the horizon. 

_Good luck, Ushijima-san…_

He closes his eyes.

_Good luck…_

_…_

_…_

“So, speaking of talk. How is the long distance thing working for you?”

“Ah, quite well, I believe.” Kita says, and proudly shows a long list of ' _From: Ushijima-kun_ 's on his phone, as he explains how they exchanged emails on a daily basis. "Modern technologies are wonderful in this regard." 

"Oh, indeed." Aran's inner old man nods to his fellow senior citizen. Instant messaging really is incredible. “But what about the dates? To make the trip worth you gotta be planning some good stuff, right?”

"Of course. We already have a couple of meetings scheduled for after Spring High." he says. Somewhat proudly.

"After Spring High??" Aran gasps. "You're gonna go so long without seeing each other??"

“Yes.”

“No! You just started your love life, man! You gotta keep it nice and warm! Can’t you move one of the dates to next month, or something?”

“Well. It is possible.” Kita calmly says, “But you see, Aran, we planned to use those encounters for introducing ourselves to each other's family, so I think it's best to save them for when our relationship becomes more matured.”

Aran holds his head in despair. “What?? Meeting the family already?? That’s even worse! You really think you’re going to develop your relationship to that point just by text???”

“No, of course not.” asserts Kita. 

Aran looks at him, waiting for an explanation. 

The old fox then puts a hand in his pocket… and brings out his trusty flip phone. “Because with this device, I can make voice calls too. And it’s also possible to attach pictures to the emails.” he says. Somewhat proudly.

Aran's forehead meets his palm in a resounding slap. “I… I can’t do this. You’re too much…”

Kita gives a little chuckle.

“Don’t worry, Aran. I am well aware that it would be ideal to have some encounters in the next months. We did consider adding another one to the schedule. But, with Spring High to focus on, we don’t have the time to do anything more than a day trip. Which, although doable, would be quite wasteful if you consider how long and… ”—Kita’s index meets his thumb, on the classic sign for money—“how much it takes to go between here and there.”

“Ah…” Aran solemnly closes his eyes. “Of course.”

The unfortunate combination of having to train all the time, and living over 800 km apart. How could he forget? 

“It’s fine, though.” Kita continues, “The text-based relationship is really working pretty well. And if I thought the lack of physical proximity was going to be an issue, I wouldn’t have even considered starting this.”

“Hm. True…” Aran nods to himself.

Yeah… With Ushiwaka most certainly going pro, having to frequently go through long periods away from each other was a big possibility for anyone that decided to date him.

_And especially for someone who intended to work in agriculture…_

_…_

Aran sighs.

“Well, you know what you do, Shin,” he says, feeling defeated.

It's always hard to counter Shinsuke's arguments. His assessments are so thorough and dead on, there usually is no room to act.

That’s what you get when you let a sharp mind like that work unclouded by emotions. Unmatched stability and efficiency. Kita’s detachment really is a powerful asset.

That’s undeniable.

But even so; even if it doesn’t seem to bother Kita himself; sometimes, Aran just can’t help worrying about it. 

If things go well between those two, he hopes they’ll at least find a way to be closer after graduation.

Until then, it seems like we can only wait for after Spring High…

… 

“Oh, but I do think it would be so nice to have at least one more date…” he laments. 

Quietly, Kita agrees, “Hm. It would.”

As they continue to walk, Aran has his head down. 

Ah… If only there was a way to reconcile training and meeting, with reduced travel expenses…

… 

_Oh, wait._

And suddenly, as realization hits him, Aran's low-spirited state is replaced by an absolute deadpan.

… 

“Hey. Shinsuke.” He stops, holding Kita by the shoulder. 

The fox calmly tilts his head up, and meets the blank face looming above him. “Yes?”

Staring at him, Aran then simply asks. “Have you considered doing a joint practice?”

Kita's eyes widen a little. "Ah."

Then he looks around for a moment.

… 

… 

"No."

"Oh…” The ace closes his eyes. “Is that so…"

Kita nods. “Yes...”

… 

…

After returning from his drift into the void, Aran breaks the silence with a deep sigh. And then goes for his bag, looking for something…

Already sensing what was about to happen, Kita asks, “Here?”

"Yes," the other replies, without moving his sight from the sheet of paper he took from his bag.

Kita gives a single, grave nod. “Very well.”

Then, in the middle of the sidewalk, he takes his pocket handkerchief, lays it on the ground, and sits on his knees.

With a straight back and hands resting on his thighs, he watches Aran carefully fold the paper into the shape of a fan. And upon seeing its completion, Kita slowly lowers his head.

Aran then stands in front of him.

And, holding the mighty weapon of the gods with both hands, he raises it above head. And—

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MR. CAPTAAAAAIN??"

PAH!

He descends the makeshift _harisen_ upon the fool.

"I can't believe this! You date THE USHIWAKA and don't EVEN THINK that maybe we could get some practice matches??? Coach was even complaining the other day about how hard it is to find good opponents! IN FRONT OF YOU! AND YOU HAVE MOTHER FUCKING GODZILLA ON THE LINE!”

Inarizaki's second in command stumbles to lean against a wall.

“Ooh, and here I was, praising your thoroughness…”

"Sorry, Aran.” Kita calmly says. “It just never occurred to me."

“But how, Shinsuke?? Just, how?? Aren’t you two like, talking about volleyball all the time?”

“No.”

"Then how could you just have never wondered how it would be to—wait." Aran furrows his eyebrows. “No?”

Kita does a little head shake. “No.”

Puzzled, Aran runs some quick mental calculations. _Kita Shinsuke: volleyball player. Ushijima Wakatoshi: volleyball player. Common interest: volleyball. Yet… no volleyball talk._ “How is that possible?”

“Well, I can’t say for Ushijima-kun, but, since I already spend a good part of my day surrounded by volleyball," Kita looks to nowhere in particular. "I don't really feel the need for more when I'm home.”

“Oh, sorry. Sure. Of course. Like keeping work separate from personal life. I understand.”

Kita nods.

"But what do you talk about, then, Shin?"

“Ah, nothing much. Usually, the weather, or recent animal sightings.” he calmly explains. “Although, sometimes, we do trade some… nice gardening tips too.” Kita says, like it was a juicy detail.

"Oh.” Aran covers his mouth. “He likes gardening too?"

Kita’s eyebrows perk up a little, and he nods. "He does."

"Wow." Aran nods along. "You really are alike, huh?"

“Yes.”

Aran smiles. “I think that's neat, you know. For the long run. Less conflict, makes it easier to live together.”

“Yes."

“But it also raises the chance of both of you failing to have the same oh-so-obvious insights…” Aran’s smile turns into a frown.

Kita looks down. “Yes…”

The ace gives him a stare. Then rolls his eyes with a sigh, and softly taps the _harisen_ on his head. "You gotta be careful with this, man. I don't want to see you pulling off Godzilla-sized accidental errands with him."

“Oh. That might be a problem, then. Considering that Mothra, by being airborne, has much more mobility than Godzilla.” Kita says with a serious expression, and looks at Aran.

Who just stares back. Unfazed. 

Without breaking eye contact, Kita continues, “Don't worry, Aran. That was a joke. I’m confident that getting so lost is beyond my abilities.” he says, still serious. “But it’s true that having similar perspectives does bring its shortcomings. Fortunately, to counter them, I just need to remember to collect some additional inputs." 

"Yeah, Shinsuke. You’ll have to talk to other people."

“Indeed.” Kita nods. “To offset my blind spots, there’s no choice but to rely on others. There’s only so much one can achieve by oneself. Building good connections truly is essential for a being so limited like us, humans. Which is why I consider myself to be very lucky, Aran.”

“Yeah, yeah. Because you somehow ended up surrounded by so many good people in this humble life of yours.” The ace playfully impersonates his philosophical friend.

“Ah, yes. You are correct.” Kita says, nodding in satisfaction.

“—but…” He then raises his head, and looks at Aran, giving him a calm little smile. “It’s also because one of them happens to be a wonderful straight man, who is so kind he even goes through all this trouble, just to help a silly old fox realize its own silliness." Kita’s smile grows a bit brighter. "Thank you, Aran. I really do love your retorts."

After hearing such words, Aran nothing does.

He just stands there, looking at Kita.

...

Then his eyes get all shimmery. 

… 

And he falls upon his little friend.

"Aw, Shin...” he sobs, as he wraps himself around Kita’s head, pressing a cheek against the soft hair. "You know you can always count on me, man."

After wiggling a bit under the bear hug, Kita eventually manages to get himself adjusted enough to say. "I do." Then he struggles a bit more to bring a hand up to pat his friend’s head. “And you can count on me as well.”

Above him, poor Aran is sniffling. And his voice quavers a bit, as he tries to say, “Oh. Then you should help me as a straight man too."

"Ah, Aran. I would if I could. But we all know how terrible I am at it."

Still sobbing, the ace agrees. "Yeah… you're the worst I’ve ever seen.”

(Usually, Aran is kinder with his words. But Kita’s case really is bad. So bad, but so bad, that on all the few times he tried to retort to someone, all he got was sadness and regretful apologies. It’s horrible.) 

“But I’m sure you can do it if you practice,” sobbing Aran adds.

The old fox tries to shake his head. “No. I’m afraid it’s already too late for me.”

“Oh, come on, Shinsukeeee. Don’t say that.” The ace yells, like an emotional drunk, and raises his head from Kita to better encourage him. “You can’t give up! You just have to try a bit… harder and… oh.”

And thus, after a couple of seconds trying to understand what had been presented to his blurry vision, Aran’s absolute deadpan returned. As he stared at an awkward image of two very serious people, doing a peace sign.

"See? Too late.” Kita says, while holding out his phone before his friend’s eyes. “Isn’t he handsome?" 

… 

Aran just blinks.

His eyes, devoid of any life.

His mouth, a flat line.

… 

“You’re having an awful lot of fun today, aren’t you?” he dryly asks.

“I am.”

… 

“You’re really enjoying the absurdity of your situation, aren’t you?”

“It is quite amusing.”

… 

"You're just gonna use this to flabbergast everyone you can, aren't you?" 

"No, just you."

And with that, as suddenly as it was gone, life returns to Aran, along with some puzzlement. “Eh? You're not telling the rest of the team?”

"No."

"Why not?" He raises an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure you would get some great reactions."

“Oh, I don't doubt it.” Kita shakes his head. “But I also don’t want to go around announcing my status for everyone. If they want to know, they can ask.”

"Ah, sure. Fair enough." Aran nods. 

That's just the standard Kita-san personal information policy. Only tell if asked.

Shinsuke is a very reserved person after all. Even Aran had no idea he was dating someone, until that old fox basically decided to draw his attention to the matter.

_Oh, wait._

"Shin. You're going to at least drop some strategic hints for them, right?" 

"No, I don’t intend to." he calmly says.

Then, a crease begins to form between Aran’s brows, as a strange sense of apprehension grows in his stomach. "But then… How will they know they need to ask?"

"Hm. I don't know.” Kita shrugs. “Guess they’ll have to be lucky. Or very sharp." he adds, with a little smile.

It’s a nice, warm one. But it makes Aran’s blood immediately go cold, and his eyes widen in horror. For he had understood his predicament.

 _Oh my god…_

There's no way they'll ever see through Shinsuke. Indeed, their only chance was for someone to get lucky, and somehow make the right question by chance…

Was. Because now Aran knows. And now that he does, it’s much more probable that he will be the one to let something slip out.

And when it happens, they will come for him. They will come for even the faintest smell of a gossip.

Those nosy unrelenting second years.

And when they do, there will be no escape for Aran. 

And Shinsuke knows…

He knows very god damn well.

….

"E— evil…" Aran slowly raises a trembling hand to point at Kita. "You’re evil. You know they’ll come for me You gave me this forbidden knowledge, and now they’ll come for me!!! This is all part of your scheme! This is what you wanted all along! I am the hint!” he rambles, maddened by the insights.

His horror, however, nothing does to the composed Kita.

“Oh, no, Aran. I just wanted to talk to my friend. This is merely a side effect.” he calmly says. “And it's not forbidden knowledge. If they start pestering you, just tell them to ask me. Or tell the story yourself. I trust your judgement, Aran.”

For a second, the trust Kita puts in him makes Aran feel a little flustered. But his despair with the situation overrules it on the spot. 

"Agh! No, man! You know I could never disclose this kind of information. I just… can't!”

“It's ok, Aran. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

"No, I won't! Those nosy foxes will chew me alive! They'll keep gnawing on me with their pointy little teeth until I'm forced to give up, and thus failing with my duty as a friend! I don't want that!!"

The poor ace falls on his knees, while holding his head with eyes shut.

But feeling a gentle touch on his shoulder, he then opens them to find Kita, kneeling before him, with a small smile on his lips. "No, Aran.” he softly says. “This worry of yours is already proof that you won't be failing as a friend."

Like a sunflower on a mild summer day, Kita's smile glows so warm and kind it could soothe even the most troubled of souls.

—but not Aran. Not this Ojiro Aran. For he has been granted eyes. And thus, he sees the true essence of he who stands before him.

"Demon," he mutters. Glassy eyes reflecting a quiet silver-haired figure. "All this time, I had thought the twins were the greatest threat to the peace of my days…” he says, as he slowly recoils away from Kita, leaving the hand that rested on his shoulder on the air. “But it was you whom I should have feared all along…"

With his expression on neutral, save for maybe a hint of surprise, Kita shifts his gaze away from Aran to instead contemplate the hand that was left on the air. He brushes the thumb over the other fingers a couple of times. Then his eyes move back to the taller man. And a satisfied thin smirk grows across his face.

Aran immediately freezes.

"Well, Aran…" Kita's voice leaves his mouth, low and velvety, as he calmly gets up. "You should know that, among foxes, the ones worthy of being feared are not the young.” He then leans forward, stopping right in front of the other man’s face, and whispers, “It’s the old ones.”

Aran gulps.

“Now,” Kita’s smirk turns into his usual pleased expression, and he offers a hand to help the nonmoving Aran stand up. “Thank you for today. It was very helpful. And fun.” He smiles. “Have a nice weekend, my friend.”

He then gives a light bow, and with all the tranquility in the world, just walks away, to the intersection where their paths diverged.

Aran, still numb from the flabbergastment, only followed the motion with his eyes. And as he did, he could almost see it: a fluffy white tail, playfully curling on that old fox’s back.

Kita Shinsuke. So soft and calm. Yet, so sharp and vicious. A truly terrifying being.

And now, there are two of them. Aran can only pray for Ushiwaka to indeed be cuter. Because, if he isn’t, this might be our end.

Then, during his final look at the horizon, in concern of what was to come; Aran feels a faint vibration in his pocket. He calmly flips his phone open. Looks at the message he received. And promptly goes call his friend back.

“Hey, Shinsuke, wait.”

Kita’s head peeks from the corner. “Yes?” 

Aran raises his phone. “My mom’s asking if we can borrow your ladder again.”

“Oh, of course.”

“Thanks. Tomorrow, at ten?”

Kita nods. “Tomorrow at ten.”

“Ok. See you then.” waves Aran.

“See you.” Kita waves back, and disappears behind the corner. Then reappears. “Oh, one last thing, Aran.”

“Yes?” The ace kindly asks.

And then, Kita brings his hands near his face, closes them like paws, and says, “Kon.”

Then goes away, before Aran could have any reaction.

Ah, yes. The good old Kita-san, one of the few people that usually allows Aran to take a break from his duties as the straight man.

Usually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The better a straight man is, the more absurdities they shall face. For their straightmaness is a magnet which attracts people's silliness to the surface. The better they are, the stronger is its pull. And that's why Kita turned out so silly in this.
> 
> \--
> 
> The song that I kept thinking about while writing this is Jojo's Theme, from Jojo Rabbit ([Spotify link](https://open.spotify.com/track/7FTqIj9vo0Zwyh77kugrY5)). It's very heartwarming. 
> 
> \--
> 
> Also, I made a couple of drawings related to this story. And I decided to make a [twitter](https://twitter.com/raccoon_attic) to share them, and any other eventual silly creation or thought. Please, give it a look. But also remember to have absolutely no expectations, because I can't social media.
> 
> Thank you for your attention. I'll be back. Hopefully, soon.


End file.
